Starless
by Rayn12
Summary: Three American hikers find themselves stranded in Japan after an accident. Novel length, based on Crimson Butterfly.
1. In A Place Like This  1

This is a present for some friends, using their characters. The plot is mine where it doesn't copy the game, the main characters belong to my friends, and the standard disclaimer applies for the rest of it. Enjoy.

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><p><em>Millie<em>

My sister sighed contentedly and stuffed her water bottle into her pack. "Well, Mills, I gotta admit this was one of your better ideas. You want to camp out here for tonight? Or head back?"

Camping is fun, and Rajan was looking contemplatively at the cliff ahead of us, planning his route. I squinted at the sky. "It's gonna get dark, huh? Raj, you wanna step out?"

He shrugged. "Whatever you want, babe. It is nice out. Smells good, too."

I took a deep breath of fresh air scented with dirt and pine and grinned. It was going to get dark, but it wasn't there yet. The sun was headed for the horizon, but it wouldn't reach it for a while, and the impending sunset hadn't even started to wash the blue sky with lemon. It would be a nice night; we wouldn't even need a tent. It was just a little cliff. We'd have plenty of time if we did it together. "One last rock climb?"

White teeth flashed in my baby's dark face. "Bring it," he grinned, stretching his arms behind him.

"I'm in," Mercy agreed. "Let's go!"

We strapped on our safety equipment, Rajan at twice the speed of everyone else and Mercy trying to pretend like she wasn't checking mine out of the corner of her eye. We're the same age to the hour, but sometimes Mercy thinks I'm 3. I winked at her and tugged on my harness to show it was secure; she chuckled and shook her head, following me to the cliff with reddening cheeks.

We made a straggly sort of line across the cliff, Rajan going first to set the anchors, Mercy cleaning behind us. It was an easy climb; lots of texture on the rocks. We probably could have done the whole thing without equipment beyond our helmets, but Raj would never allow something like that with me along. He's not overprotective, but he's careful.

"So," Mercy called up, "how high do you think we have to climb before we can see our house from here?"

I paused to look across the trees, out toward the ocean and home. "Um, halfway up?"

Above me, Rajan laughed. "I think a little farther than that, ladybug. Let's see... what, eight inches per mile? Ballpark, assuming perfect visibility..." He trailed off, muttering to himself. I couldn't hear him; he was almost to the top, looking up as he caught a new handhold. I spent just a second admiring the way the defined muscles in his arms flexed as he hauled himself upward.

Below me, Mercy was chuckling. "You're over thinking this, bro. It wasn't a serious question."

"Close to a mile," Rajan announced triumphantly.

I rolled my eyes, looking to Mercy for support against my adorable nerd boyfriend. "Eyes can only see so-"

Mercy's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in horror. On my other side, something hit rock in a trio of thumps. I looked over and saw a heap of red and brown cloth on the pine needles we'd started from.

"Rajan!" Mercy was already scrambling down at superhuman speed. "Millie, go down slow, ok? It's a free climb, you don't have protection. I'll take care of him." I started moving, as fast as I could follow, even though my brain was numb and refusing to tell me what was going on. Mercy yelled at me, but she didn't change direction. "Millie! I told you to be careful! Don't fall!" She hit bottom and raced over to the heap of cloth, her fingers running gingerly along it. "Raj, are you awake? Can you hear me?" No response. I pushed off and jumped the last eight feet, rolling on the soft forest earth to break my fall. My sister strangled a scream of protest, turning it into a sigh instead. "He's alive, and he doesn't seem to be bleeding to death." She turned back to my motionless boyfriend, continuing her assessment. My whole body had turned to lead. "He might have a concussion, and his leg is... wow. Damn. We need to get him help, fast."

That broke the spell. I raced over, shrugging off my pack, and dropped down beside him. "Is he awake?" I leaned over his short, dark hair, trying to see his face. His eyes were closed, his breath rough and fast.

"Not yet." Mercy hesitated, and my stomach sank a little more. "Mills... we have a problem. He needs help, and I don't know how we're going to get it to him."

"How far is it?" I asked, pulling my phone from my pack even though I hadn't been able to get a signal on it for hours.

My sister knew me too well to give an answer in irrelevant miles. "To the car? If we had turned back before we started this climb, we'd have made it about an hour after dark. But you can't get a car up here."

"What other options do we have?" We hadn't seen another soul all day, and my phone had no reception here, either. "Pretty soon he's gonna wake up" _please, please, please let it be soon!_ "and be in a whole lot of pain." I looked around, scrambling for options. "Maybe there's a road nearby?"

"It's worth a shot. I don't remember seeing anything on the map, but it's such a densely populated island, it's likely that _someone_ will be nearby..." Suddenly decisive, she stalked to my pack and tossed it next to me. She threw her own beside it. "You look on the map. I'll be right back."

I dug the map out of the front flap of Mercy's pack and unfolded it, turning on the lamp on the climbing helmet still strapped under my chin. Rajan had marked our route, numbering the stopping places in his little Hindi squiggles. I counted them off and then squinted at the lines around the last one, searching for anything that might help us. "No road; nothing for a car nearby. But it has a little trail..."

Mercy's voice drifted down from above me; she was halfway up the cliff again. "A trail? Great! Any sort of village or town marked on it?"

"A lil' something." The print was tiny, I could just make it out. "Miii-naaa-kaa-miii."

"Seriously? That's awesome! Even a little place should have a car and a phone. I'll- hmm."

She hung halfway up, thinking, while the shadows stretched out. I thought, too. "How do you suppose we get him there?"

"Ideally they'd come to him, but -"

Beside me, Rajan groaned and stirred, curling toward his injured leg and bringing his hands to his head. In an instant my hands were there with his, caressing them, brushing his face, squeezing his shoulder. He turned toward me a little.

"Ugh. Millie?"

Speech! And he recognized me. Hooray! "Hey, hey! How do you feel?

"Um, I think I'm gonna hurl..." He groaned.

Mercy had started back down the cliff at the sound of his voice. "That's normal," she assured him, clambering toward us. "Careful not to move your leg if you do. It's broken – it'll hurt like hell."

"Already does." He swallowed hard a couple times, moving one hand down to cradle his tummy.

"Don't go puking on me, ok?" He looked pretty bad. We needed to come up with something fast. "Mercy, what's your plan, then?'

"I don't like the idea of splitting up. Raj, you know what year it is?" He did. "How about the square root of 144?"

"Twelve," he responded patiently. "I was wearing my helmet, I'm not brain dead. Why would we split up?"

"There's a village nearby." If we didn't split up, we'd have to carry Raj somehow. That could be difficult, given his condition... "But we have blankets, we could always make a stretcher, right?"

Mercy nodded. "I think that's our best bet. More reliable than trying to find each other again on this mountain." She hopped to the ground and began stripping off her climbing harness.

Rajan got his hands underneath himself and pushed. "I can- oooooh." He sank back down, panting, his sweet brown face gone pasty gray and beaded with sweat.

"No, you cannot walk," Mercy noted briskly. "Millie, sit on him. I'm going to find some branches strong enough to make a stretcher from." She started digging through her pack for something.

She was leaving us alone? "Don't wander off too far, ok?" She could take care of herself, at least. Raj couldn't, so it was my job. I took his hand again. "You'll be ok. I think I have some painkiller..."

"I'll take the whole bottle."

Mercy found a bottle in her pack, tossed it and some water over to me. "I'll be back soon," she said, and wandered off with our ax into the trees.

I poured four little blue pills into my palm and dumped them into my boyfriend's mouth, following them with a dollop of water. "Here."

He swallowed gratefully and then leaned back, grabbing my hand again. "Thanks." He lay quiet for a moment, his eyes closed. Something, probably a squirrel, moved in the branches of a nearby tree, shaking a cluster of pine needles to the ground. Shame I didn't have any nuts. An army of trained squirrels could probably carry Raj back to the car in a hurry, and quite comfortably. Squirrels were soft.

Rajan interrupted my thoughts with some of the darker, serious ones I was trying not to have. "What happened? One second everything was fine, and the next – it was like someone shoved me, and my rope was just gone."

I didn't know what happened. When Rajan fell, the rope should have pulled on me, but it didn't. It should have caught him, but it didn't. He should have been able to catch himself, but he didn't. For someone as competent as Raj, it didn't add up. "You're sure you set up everything right?"

"I- as sure as I can be. I mean, its not the first time I've done this. And I never skimp on the safety stuff. I think it was right. And it felt like someone shoved me."

"Someone... shoved you?"

"I know it sounds weird. It's not like there was anyone there to do it. But – it was so sudden, you know. It wasn't just my hand slipping. And... it felt like fingers, splayed against my chest. I can still sort of feel them." He rubbed his chest, trying to erase the memory. I tugged his shirt free and pushed it up to bare his bronze pecs. An angry red splotch spread across his smooth skin.

"Hey wait... there's a mark – like a hand print. Look." I ran my fingers cautiously across it. It looked like burn. Raj shivered and pointed to the other side of his chest.

"And over here, too. Two of them."

A pair of hand prints, like somebody pushed him. "That's creepy! It wasn't me, I swear!"

"I know, Mills, I know. I wouldn't suspect you." He was laughing at me, shakily; he put a hand behind my head and drew me down to his shoulder. His heart was pumping, crashing on his chest like caffeinated ocean waves. He patted my head. "I hope Mercy hurries back."

"She'd better. It's getting dark." I sat up and dug into my pack to produce a flashlight to give Rajan. The one on his helmet wouldn't do much good, since once we got him onto the stretcher it'd be pointed pretty much straight up the whole time. At least he'd be able to see the stars.

"What are we going to do about the packs?" he asked, and I frowned. His voice was getting weaker. "We should probably rearrange them before she comes back. I can't carry mine, but they're not that full. We can fit most of the stuff in the other two, I think."

"I'll try. You just sit tight, okay? Let me know if you need anything."

"'K. I'll just pass out for a while then. Don't mind me." His hands were shaking and his face was getting paler. His eyes closed and his body went limp.

I shook him a little and his eyes didn't open. "Mercy?"

The sound of a wildebeest crashing through the forest was followed by the abrupt appearance of my sister at the treeline. "Millie? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. He isn't doing well. Did you find anything?"

She sighed and melted a little, leaning one shoulder against a tree. "You scared me. Yeah, I found a couple branches that will work. I'm stripping them now. Should be another five minutes or so. I'll be right back." She wandered off into the shadows again.

So what exactly had happened? The rope, the hand prints... it was just too weird. Creepy, like ghosts and stuff. Not that I couldn't handle unusual; freaky stuff happens to Valentines. We're magnets. But usually there were more people around to call on. Mercy's awesome and all, but right now I'd have given an awful lot to have my parents or Raj's brother Eryc around. _I want my mommy._

I quit thinking about it and started singing lullabies to Rajan while I rearranged our stuff.

The sun was down and the tree shadows were all mushed up into a big dark blanket when Mercy came back again. "Here we are. Best I could do on short notice." She laid out two long branches, even taller than Raj, all knobbly where she'd striped them down. "We'll wrap them in blanket a couple times and tie it off – bring the rope over? And cut some strips from my fleece. We're going to want cushions on the grips."

I threw her a blanket and did what she said, keeping an eye on Raj the whole time. He started looking around again when we were about half done; it was too dark to wink, so I blew him kisses while we worked. The time went by pretty fast. I was actually surprised when Mercy tied the last grip on.

We laid the stretcher out beside him and I gave him a confident pat before I slid my arms under his shoulders. "Help me lift him onto it?" I asked as Mercy perched beside his legs. "One, two, three!"

Rajan screamed and leaned over, puking into the dirt beside the stretcher. I burst into tears.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry," Mercy apologized. "It's done for now though. We'll get you to some decent painkillers soon. Come on, munchkin – you want head or feet?"

It took me a minute and a few deep breaths before I was ready to grab the stretcher handles at Rajan's head. "Ok. Let's go."


	2. In A Place Like This 2

_Mercy_

It was difficult to move smoothly over the rough little track; the last melon glow of twilight was gone and there was no moon. The sky had clouded over while we made the stretcher. My headlamp bobbed erratically, throwing twisty shadows from my toes and over a track sunk deep into the hillside, drifted carpets of leaves edging it like some dead, fluffy moss. The trees were tall and thick, the occasional stump or sapling looming like a man in the darkness and then twisting into true form as my circle of yellow light cut across it. My exhausted fingers were stiff on the stretcher handles. I risked a quick glance over my shoulder, trying to see Millie's face. "How are you doing Mills? Holding up okay?"

"Mmm." She wasn't crying, and she'd been keeping up a good pace. I wasn't sure how much farther adrenaline would carry us, but we had a few miles in us yet. I risked another glance back, at Rajan's drawn and pasty face. His eyes were closed and he was groaning softly.

"I'd ask how you were doing, but I think I can guess. Hang in there, both of you, okay? Tell me if you need a rest. We shouldn't have to go too much further." _Please, not too much further. A phone and a decent doctor..._

"Look! Over there in the river valley. I see lights!"

I followed the jerk of Millie's chin down the slope and out into the valley. I could make out an orange glow among the trees, like distant city lights, or... flames? Maybe a tourist village that still used old fashioned lanterns or something. That would be good; any place set up for tourists would be easier for us to navigate. "Oh, good! We're close. Just a little farther." A few more steps, another curve, and the view broadened out. A tiny village, only a handful of buildings, nestled just below us. No people moved through the silent streets. "I can see the houses now; we're almost there. It's so quiet!" The path here was indeed lit by open flame; little bonfires in tripods around the edge of the clearing. They burned low and smoky in the rapidly cooling night wind and drew erratic shadows over an unusually tall stand of rocks beside the path. I got only glimpses with my peripheral vision as we passed through; Rajan had quit moaning and now gripped the edges of the stretcher with white fingers. We hurried.

It didn't get any busier as we approached; no cooking smells, no voices. As we came within reach of the first houses it was like we were walking into a ghost town. It was even covered in a dense summer fog. "Hello? Hello? We need help!" Something was off. "Um, Mills, I just thought of another problem."

We came to a stop as Mills' thoughts caught up to mine. "You're right. Talking. Dammit! We don't speak a word they'll understand."

"I speak four they might, but I'm not sure it matters. No one seems to be out to talk to." Because that would be way too easy. Help? Medical care? A single thing going right in an emergency?

No point moaning about it now, though. There _were _ lights on; lanterns glowed at the doorway of the nearest house. Someone had to be around. I motioned to Millie and we laid the stretcher down on the narrow dirt street. "There's light, but no sounds, no one on the street... I'm going to try one of the houses. You guys wait here." I flicked off the light on my climbing helmet and unstrapped it; no point blinding anyone I talked to. I ditched my pack beside the helmet, snagging a flashlight as I did.

Rajan didn't respond at all, and Mills was looking nervous. "Be quick, ok?"

I flexed my aching, bloodless fingers, contemplating doorways. "Not a problem." None of the homes looked very inviting; they were all in poor repair, sagging and dirty. I angled toward the closest one and knocked at the door. "Konnichiwa?" No answer, but the door creaked open. The latch must be broken. Should I go inside and risk getting arrested for trespassing? Did I have any other options? I looked back at Millie and Rajan, trying to seem confident. "Right. Okay. I'll be right back!"

The entry was small, illuminated by an overhead lamp and a single candle on a tall stand, and screened from the rest of the house by a halfwall topped with wooden slats. A splintered bench was disintegrating against the wall and a shelf had collapsed across a huge tub beside the door. Maybe we could do some repair work in exchange for help? "Konnichiwa?" I called again as I entered. "Sumimasen! Is anyone here?" There was no answer, but something moved in the room to my left. I peered through the bars just in time to see a woman disappearing from my limited field of view.

I ran after her, through the entry, into a large room that looked not just empty but desolate. A large platform with a sunken fireplace took up most of the room. It was surrounded by screens, and every one was falling to pieces, yellowed and tattered. A single lamp leaked a soft yellow glow from the second floor walkway, a candle burned beside the door, and a tiny floor lantern did what it could, but none of the light sources was more than a nightlight. I took a few steps down the hall that led out under a tattered noren, but no one was there. "Excuse me!" I stopped and turned around, looking for the door to the room I'd seen from the entry. I found it beside the lantern, slid it open, and was immediately confronted by a very large swath of hanging fabric. A kimono hung on a stand just inside the door. There was just enough room for me to pass between it and the wall.

I was in a room full of dressers. A second kimono hung on another stand, low chests sat against the wall, and light seeped in from the entry. No one here, either. The walls were filthy, the furnishings in disrepair. Maybe the woman I'd seen was a squatter in an abandoned dwelling? Drat. I had no way to tell such a person that I didn't care whether she owned this place or not. We just desperately needed assistance, even if it was just another pair of hands.

I went back to the hall under the noren. A low storage space opened to the right, but it held only pots. A short hallway, candlelit and dirty, led to some sort of study with more broken furniture and disintegrating décor. A quick look around showed it to be empty of life and unconnected to the rest of the house except by the door I'd come through.

As I returned to the main hallway, I caught a flash of movement again, out of the corner of my eye. A woman with shoulder length dark hair, the same one I'd seen through the slats, was rounding the corner at the end of the long hall. I followed, calling out to her, but she didn't even turn. By the time I got to the corner where I'd lost sight of her she was going through a door at the end of the hall. The door fell slowly closed behind her, latching just as my fingers got close enough to brush it. I opened it again, hoping she hadn't been going to get a gun. "Sumimasen? Konnichiwa?"

The room was empty.

This didn't make any sense. I watched her walk through this door. There was no where else to go, no doors except onto a pretty little yard which was both tiny and fully enclosed. I could see everything, and she just wasn't here.

Worry began to collect in my shoulders and the base of my spine. Something was off here; more seriously off than I'd imagined at first. My mind flashed back to Rajan's accident, to my examination of the ropes that should have checked his fall. The cleanly severed ropes. We just might be in very serious trouble.

Or I might be overreacting. So far all I had was an empty old house and a woman who didn't seem to want to talk to me. I took a deep breath and searched the little yard, which seemed to be thriving. All I found was a discarded notebook beside a shrub. I picked it up and flipped through it. All Japanese, of course. No help for me in figuring out who may or may not live here.

I needed to go back and check on Millie. The only place I hadn't been in the house was upstairs; I'd try there and then report back to my sister and we could decide, all over again, what we wanted to do. I left, the notebook still in my hands, and made my way back to the fireplace room.

The woman was on the stairs.

This time I didn't yell or call after her, I just followed. Something was wrong, something was off. I figured out what when I reached the head of the stairs and she disappeared.

Not opened a door or rounded a corner. Not hid; there was nothing to obscure my view. She simply melted into nothingness before my wide open eyes.

I pelted out of the house like it was on fire. "Millie! Millie, are you ok?"

She was folded over Rajan, but she sat up straight as I pounded toward her. My shoulders unknotted a fraction and my stomach agreed to sit still.

"Huh? Oh, sure. Did you find anyone?"

"No. There's no one here." _No one alive, anyway_. "And I don't think anyone has lived here for quite a long time."

She tucked a dark curl that had escaped her ponytail back behind her ear and chewed on her lip. "What should we do then? Rajan's asleep."

"I don't think we should stay here, not if we can't get help. Do you think you could make it back to the car, now that we have the stretcher?"

"If nobody's here, why can't we just stay the night? Better than camping in the forest. And I smell rain." She wrinkled her nose and sniffed at the sky.

I didn't want to stay. This place was creepy and wrong and there was no one here to help us, which made me feel that much more alone and really drove home the fact that whatever happened to Millie and Raj here would be my responsibility. On that note, however, I didn't want to try to haul the stretcher over a mountain in the rain at night, either. The way things were going we'd end up lost forever in the heart of Japan. A difficult feat, but the way things were going right now we could probably manage it. I could smell the water in the air. _Time to make a choice, big sister. _"Maybe... maybe just until dawn. We shouldn't wait too long to get medical care for Raj. But you're right, I think it is going to rain. I guess we should get inside."

"Ok. This house right here?"

"No!" Nothing had attacked me in there, but staying in a place _known_ to have ghosts of _unknown_ nature was not a good idea. Nor did I want to tell Millie it was haunted. We had enough on our plates without her trying a therapeutic exorcism. "Um, it's kind of falling apart and... I don't think its safe in there. We'll find a better place. Maybe one of the buildings on the other side here."

"Across the river? I think the bridge is to the left."

"I was actually thinking right here," I pointed at the building on the other side of the little dirt street, "where we can get out quickly in the morning... but maybe distance would be better...":

"I dunno. This place is creepy, ya know?"

"Did you see anything?" I questioned sharply. If anything had threatened Millie and Raj, we were out of here, rain or no. "Did anything happen to you while I was gone?"

"Well... I saw some butterflies. They were glowingish and they were pretty. So I named them. By the time I got to Lucinda you were back. Why? Did you see something?"

Butterflies. Less severe threat than I had imagined inside. Maybe I really was letting the stress run away with me. "Lets just get to shelter. Although... if we're going to stay all night, we really should set Rajan's leg. He's going to hate me for it, but it's better than the alternative. And that means he'll need a splint. Do you think you could wait here a few more minutes while I take the ax and find some wood?

Millie set a fist on her hip and cocked her head at me. "This will be the last time?" she asked, biting her lip again. She was really worried. "I'll wait with him." She knelt beside the stretcher, one arm draped lovingly across him.

"I'm sorry, Mills. I'll be fast, I promise."

I was praying as I rounded the corner. If ever I'd needed help, I needed it now. It took exactly no time to realize that the building I'd hoped to shelter in would have been worthless; an entire side had fallen in. The remaining structure was rotted and full of holes; it wouldn't even keep the rain out. We'd be better off setting up our tent in the street. I did, however, see a well beyond the half-collapsed dwelling, and beside the well a building that looked more solid. A little stack of lumber, possibly a broken lid for the well, splayed next to the stone circle, looking slightly less decayed than the stuff crumbling in the building beside me. I could snag one of those for Rajan's splint and be back to Millie in two minutes.

It was a great plan until I got to the well. I checked it – we might need water, and I wouldn't have trusted any from the house I'd just seen, even if it had plumbing, which it hadn't. My flashlight beam illuminated only rock, and the pebble I tossed in hit bottom with a thunk. No water. I had just laid hands on one of the boards propped against the well when I heard voices. Angry voices. I crouched behind the well and stared down the street; torches bobbed toward me through the mist. Torches just as translucent as the trails of fog surrounding them. I could just make out fingers curled around the base of one, and those fingers were see-through as well. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but the mere sound of the words made my heart pound and my muscles clench. These were not happy ghosts. And they were looking for something.

I was something. And in just a minute, they were going to find me.

A third torch bobbed into existence and I took flight like a startled rabbit. I couldn't lead them back to Millie and Rajan, but I couldn't let them catch me, either. The solid building beside the well might offer some shelter. A fence ran along the side opposite the well, but there was enough room for me to fit between the building and the fence. I waited there, just outside the circle of light from the lantern hung at the doorpost, a rock clenched in one hand and the ax in the other, the board for Raj's splint cradled in my arm. From the time I was a little girl I've been able to create transitory visual illusions; I threw one up now to make myself disappear. If they turned towards Millie, I'd throw the rock to distract them, and if that didn't work I'd drop the illusion and make them chase me. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all I had. I waited, hardly daring to breathe, for the angry procession to come into view.

And waited. And waited.

Eventually I slunk back out again, carefully, eyes searching every nook and cranny. There was nothing there. No voices, no torches, no ghosts. An empty street in the fog.

_Mercedes, get a grip_, I scolded myself. Had I just freaked out over a lantern in the fog and a distant argument? Or had I just successfully evaded potentially hostile spiritual phenomena? I didn't know, and I wouldn't know until I quit letting my imagination run wild or panicking every time I saw something weird. _You're a Valentine, for crying out loud. Weird is practically your family name._

_And you've left Millie too long._

I jogged around the corner and saw Rajan, lying on his stretcher, alone.

I've learned some impressive swearwords when my uncles thought I wasn't listening, and I used them all, then used them all again. Silently, in my head – if hostile things were lurking here, I didn't want to give them defenseless, sleeping Raj as a target. Something bad, very bad, must have happened – Millie would never just leave Raj, not in his condition in a place like this. I dropped beside him and shook his shoulder, bending low to speak into his ear. "Raj? Raj, I'm sorry, but I need you to wake up."

He groaned and blinked, managed a slurred, "what?"

"Can't explain. I'm going to leave for a second. Here's the ax. If you see anything weird, yell for me, ok? And if anything gets too close, whack it. I'll be right back." I stood up, my eyes trying to pierce the fog by force of will. "Millie?" I called softly. "Millie?" A little louder. "Where are you?"

If she could only make a single noise, I could find her... "Millie!"

"What? Is he ok?" My sister, whole and unharmed, came tearing around a corner of the house, into the street.

_She's alive. She's fine. Thank heavens. I'm going to kill her._

"You're here. Oh, good." My voice was a study in relief; I was too glad to see her to even stay mad at her for scaring me like that.

"I'm fine," Rajan assured her. "Well, the same. What's going on?"

Raj and Millie were both looking at me with concern, the ax still in Rajan's hand. Both totally fine. Right. I would just have to keep them that way until dawn, safe from the workings of my overwrought imagination. I took the ax back from Rajan, chopping the board for his splint while I explained. "We found the town, but there's no one here to help us. We're going to stay here for the night and go to the car in the morning. We're going to have to splint your leg; I'm sorry." I looked up at my sister. "Please don't wander off like that. You scared me. The last thing we need is for you to break an ankle on a rotten floor. I'll never get you out then." There. A perfectly plausible reason to keep her close. This place was manifestly disintegrating, and Mills has always had weak ankles.

Millie looked accommodating rather than contrite, but it would do. "Sorry, just looking around," she said, kneeling by Rajan's head. It went without saying that the actual setting would fall to me. "Rajan, you ready?" she asked, stroking his cheek.

"No," I answered for him, pulling his injured leg straight and trying to ignore the roar of agony that accompanied the motion, "he's not. But its mostly over. Help me tie the splint on."

Rajan bore our ministrations silently, only panting and the occasional hiss escaping his control. "You're supposed to warn me... so I can be... manly," he managed as we finished and stood. "Not... scream like... a little girl."

Millie was crying again, silent tears. "It's ok," she assured him in a steady voice. "you were fine." She kissed his forehead. "Good job. Great job."

"Hurts more if you're expecting it," I explained. "And you didn't scream like a little girl. That was an Amazon bellow if I ever heard one. Or possibly a large bovine under torture."

He chuckled a little. "Thanks for that."

"Any time," I smiled. "Alright, you're fixed up. Let's find a place to stay the night." Nothing had been drawn by all the noise we were making, which I took as a good sign that either nothing was really here, or whatever was here was only echoes. Still, the tent idea was out; I wanted to keep visibility.

"Where are we, anyway?" Raj asked as Mills and I hefted the stretcher again.

"Somewhere named Minakami." Millie leaned over him and whispered, "But there's no one here..."

"We hope," I added under my breath. "This place," I told him, "is kind of falling apart. We may need to walk a little ways before we find a safe place to be."

"Just a little more," Millie backpedaled. "Then you can rest."

"Keep a lookout, ok?" I asked them both. I didn't want to scare them, but something was wrong. Lights and ghosts and abandoned houses and butterflies – whatever it was, this town was not normal. "Something about this place bothers- wait, Millie? Did you say _glowing_... ish?"

"Oh, the butterflies? Mmm-hmm," she acknowledged, unperturbed.

"Very brightly colored? Or actually emitting light?"

"I don't remember. Why?"

Ah, my sister. "Um, I don't like this place."

Our path was winding between two more buildings, lights on and silent, dingy as the first house. Unlikely to be better choices than the first one for occupancy, so with a shared look Millie and I decided to pass them by. Ahead of us a large double door was set into a wall that crossed the road. Some sort of boundary? If we got out of the stupid village, the tent might be fine after all... Should have thought of that earlier. I was definitely not at my best. We paused under the sloping branches of a massive tree and lowered Raj to the leaf strewn street. Hopefully, I pulled open the massive doors.

We passed through the doors onto a wooded river bank, or possibly the shore of a small lake, a rickety looking wooden bridge stretching across the water. The fog was heavier here, but I could just make out shadows that might be a building on the far side. Millie didn't even slow down, so I didn't either. "Careful," I warned as we walked onto the aged planks, "this doesn't look very stable. Gaping hole coming up on the right. Maybe we should- wait, did you see that?" Through the hole I'd seen something white in the water, and a swirl of black over it that moved like hair.

"See what?" Millie asked, suddenly motionless.

I took a deep breath and refused to panic. "It looked like someone in the water, just under the bridge." There. Calm and rational.

"Why would someone be under a rickety wooden bridge in an old abandoned village at night?" Millie asked, her eyes wide and perplexed.

So much for rationality. "Swimming? I don't know. I can't see anyone now. But I could have sworn... Never mind. Let's just get across. Watch your step."

The shape at the other end of the bridge was resolving into a large house. Not large compared to mine, of course, but significantly bigger than anything else we'd seen in the village. The bridge terminated at an ornate set of lantern lit doors set into another wall. We had to climb a few steps to reach it.

The gate opened away from me, swinging easily as I pushed against it. On the other side a wide courtyard, carefully landscaped and lit by lanterns, embraced the house. Millie was impressed. "Oh, yeah. This place even has a baby courtyard."

The courtyard was nice, but it wouldn't keep us safe from the big drops of rain that were starting to splash down around us. The breeze was picking up, whisking away the fog and cooling the air. Raj shivered. "Swanky," I agreed. "Apparently the gardeners are still showing up for work. Let's get inside. Set him down and let me find something to prop open this door..."

Millie bent over her boyfriend again as I searched the landscaping. "How's it going, trooper?"

"I am not yet dead," he replied. "Not sure if that's good or bad. I'll get back to you."

"Pretty soon we'll be nice and warm and snuggled in a house and I can give you more pain medicine! And then when it's light we'll get you home." She lifted a corner of the blanket we'd laid across him and used it to shield his face from the mounting shower.

I found a large rock among the landscaping and wedged the front door open with it, trying not to feel too dismayed at what I saw inside. The house had clearly been ornate and lovely at some point, but that point had passed. Its interior was as shredded and filthy as the first house had been, although the floor seemed in better condition. There were no lights in the spacious entry, and I couldn't decide if I liked it better that way or not.

Raj groaned, jaw clenched, as we lifted him again. "The pain should start backing off as your leg stabilizes," I reminded him. "It'll be better soon, I promise! Come on, we're getting soaked."

We moved into the shelter of the roof, grateful to be out of the weather. The door groaned as Millie crossed the threshold, but the rock was wedged solidly and kept it from slamming closed in the mild wind. "Only a few hours," I reminded myself quietly. No sooner had I started hunting for the best place to lay the stretcher, though, than the headlamp on the helmet I'd re-donned for our trip through the village flickered and died. I looked back in time to see Millie's fade out, too.

"Weird," she noted. "Flashlight?" We lowered Raj and tried the flashlight without success. "I think I see some light coming from down the hall," Millie said, starting that direction. "Someone's got to be here!"

I grabbed her arm, gently, and she stopped moving. I shook my head. "Nope. It was like that at the other place, too. The lights are on, but nobody's home."

She frowned at me, considering. "But... how?"

"Don't know, don't want to know. Let's not move from this spot, though. And I'm going to leave the door open, if no one minds." Apparently, no one did. "Raj, you comfortable?"

"All things considered, yeah. It's ok."

"Mercy, look!" Millie pointed toward a decaying tapestry on the wall. "It's the butterfly I was talking about!"

I followed the line of her finger and stared, frankly amazed. Actually emitting light, then. It was bright red and glowing, clinging to the tapestry and slowly fluttering extravagant wings. "I see, Mills. We're going to definitely not touch the butterflies. And we're out of here at first light." She nodded, her stray curl slipping free of her ear again, eyes still riveted on the luminous insect. "Still, it does look kind of cool," I admitted. "Are they bioluminescent, do you think? They must be."

She gave half a shrug, smiled, and sank down beside Rajan.

"Alright," I said, sitting myself. "Mills, you two get some sleep. I'll keep watch until dawn."

"You sure?" she asked, yawning and digging a blanket from her pack.

"Yeah. Sweet dreams."


	3. In A Place Like This 3

_Millie_

"Millie?" Mercy was calling me, shaking my shoulder. I tried to crack an eyelid, but my eyelids were too heavy to move. "Millie, wake up, sweetie. We're getting out of here."

She sounded unhappy. I got a hand up to my face, and with its help I got my eyes to wake up. It was hard to tell when they blinked open, though. "Why? It's still dark."

It was too dark to really see sissie frown, but I could sure hear it. "I think its gonna be for a while," she said. "The sun should have just risen by now. We need to get out of here."

I pushed myself up until I was sitting and patted the ground around me until I found Rajan's head.

"'Mornin', ladybug," he said, laughing at me.

"Hey." I stroked his short black hair, reassured by the good humor in his voice. "How do you feel?"

"I'm ready to go home. Bring on the morphine! Also, I think the butterflies like you." Maybe they did; the one butterfly that had settled by us before I fell asleep last night had turned to at least a dozen, perched in a wide, glowing circle around the room. I pulled out my phone and snapped a quick picture. I hadn't had reception since our second cliff, but the camera function worked just fine, and the butterflies were some of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen.

I stuffed my phone back into my back and then leaned over and kissed Rajan's forehead. "I like you. C'mon. Let's go." I stood up and heard Raj swallow a yelp. When I looked down he was propped up on his elbows, panting.

"I was going to volunteer to limp..." he started, leaning back down onto the stretcher.

"Oh, no you don't," Mercy said sternly, hefting her pack back into place and strapping her helmet on. "Not 'till we get you home and get that leg properly set and immobilized. You're all swollen and you've got a hell of a bruise."

I knelt beside his splinted leg and saw that some time during the night Merc had not only retied the splint but cut his pant leg nearly to his hip to take the pressure off. His injured leg was swollen to twice the size of his other one. Even in the dark I could see the purple of the bruises forming across his thigh. "C'mon, darlin'! One last push and you're home free." I threw my pack and helmet on, anxious to get my baby home. As I buckled the pack over my hips I thought I heard my sister mutter, "I hope its that easy." She didn't say anything more, though, as we bent to the stretcher handles and hoisted Raj back into the air.

He bit his lip and screwed up his eyes, trying to hold in the pain the movement caused. "Oh, wow. I am not gonna miss that. I'm just gonna pass out now."

Mercy glanced back over her shoulder. "Feel free. Ok Millie, straight back the way we came in, then we make for the car."

The lights on our helmets flickered back to life as we stepped out onto the wet stones of the courtyard. Mercy left the door wedged open behind us.

* * *

><p>"Mercy, are we lost?" I asked after what seemed like hours. After we left the village we'd passed through trees and trees and more trees, and I couldn't see any differences between them. I was more sore from yesterday than I'd though I would be, and the stretcher was already making my fingers ache. I would have been well on my way to being grumpy if not for Raj. Sulking wouldn't help him any, and he needed my help.<p>

Mercy didn't think we were lost. "We passed the overlook that took us down to the village about twenty minutes ago, and then we started going downhill again about ten minutes ago. There's only the one path, and we haven't turned at all. We're coming up on a break in the trees, and it should be... damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!" She stomped her foot, carefully, so she didn't jostle the stretcher.

Raj raised his head and looked at the enormous black stones and little cute braziers on the hilltop. "How'd we get back here?"

I had no idea. Like Mercy said, we hadn't turned. "This is so freaky! And it's still dark."

Mercy sighed and gestured for me to lay the stretcher down. "I think its going to be for a long time," she said, wiping a hand across her face. "I'm afraid we're stuck."

She wasn't making sense. "Stuck? What do you mean?"

She folded herself down beside the stretcher, so I did, too. "When I was in that house," she said, "the first one, I saw figures moving that disappeared when I got close. I saw them all last night, too. Add that to the butterflies, the way the lights are all on but no one's here... the candles don't even burn down. I was hoping sunrise would end it, but the sun doesn't seem to rise here. There's only one good explanation."

Rajan groaned. "Supernatural." Mercy nodded. "And its not going to let us leave until its done with us. Great."

"Supernatural? What, you mean like ghosts?" Is that what she meant by figures?

"I think that's what they were, yeah. And not the friendly, 'I-just-need-you-to-tell-my-wife-I-love-her' kind."

"The eat-your-face kind?" Raj asked, and Mercy nodded again, her headlamp bobbing like a firefly on a trampoline.

"That's my operating theory, yes."

No! This was not the time! Ordinarily I'd think talking to ghosts would be interesting, maybe even kinda fun, but it was not very nice of them to hold us hostage. "What are we supposed to do, then?"

"Well, that's where my theories break down a little. My first instinct is to probe the borders, see if they break down anywhere, but I suspect that would be useless and wear us out. We need water, and we need to figure out what's keeping the ghosts here and how to get free of it. I think we'll have to have another look around."

Back down to the village, she meant. That's where she wanted to look around. I blinked at her, and looked to Raj for his opinion. "I don't think I get a vote," he said, patting my hand. "Luggage isn't traditionally part of the democratic process."

I smiled at him and hoped he could see it in the flickering half-light. Mercy even giggled. The sudden lightening of the mood reminded me how tired and stressed we all were. Maybe that's why everything seemed so gloomy. "I think we should try talking to them," I decided. "Even dead people need friends, right?"

Mercy dropped abruptly back to serious and gloomy. "I'd like to know what we're walking into before we have a séance. And its going to be hard to make friends across both the life and language barriers. Anyone have a Japanese-English dictionary?"

She didn't sound serious, but as it turned out I did! I stuck my hand in the air. "Oooh, me! But...," I lowered it again as a terrible thought occurred to me, "we don't know how old these ghosts are, right? Maybe they speak, like... archaic Japanese."

"I'm still stuck on the fact that you actually packed your dictionary for rock climbing. Good job, Mills! Anything else in that magic bag we should know about?"

Did granola bars count? What _did_ I have in there, anyway? The tent and a spare blanket, my jacket, climbing harness, the map, my iPod, my phone (which still didn't work), my DS, a couple apples...

Raj smiled at me. "I guess not. I wouldn't worry too much about ancient ghosts – we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Right! Time to go make friends, then." I stood up and dusted off my pants. "You stay with Raj this time," I told my sister. "It's my turn."

Mercy leapt to her feet. "Millie, no! I don't want you to go wandering around down there. It's not safe."

"It's not safe for you, either," I pointed out. "And talking is the only thing I'm good at."

"You're good at lots of things," Mercy contradicted. "Talking's just the one you're best at. How will we know if you're in trouble?"

"Who, then? You again?" I demanded.

"I'd rather it be me, yeah," she said slowly. "But I guess I can see how that might not be entirely fair." She paused a little, looking at me. "Do you really want to do this?"

Did I? I'd been fighting more on principle than out of great desire. "Um. What do you think, bud?" I asked, running my hand along Rajan's perfect bicep.

It took him a long time to reply. "I hate letting you out of my sight in a place like this, especially when I'm a helpless lump and can't chase after you if I change my mind..." He rubbed his chest, the spot where the red hand prints were burned across it. "But I believe in you." He sighed. "Do what you think is best, ladybug. But remember I love you and be careful."

He loved me. And if I left him, he would be worried sick the whole time I was gone. Mercy would be, too, but somehow it was worse to do that to the guy in the stretcher. "You go, Mercy."

"Are you sure?"

I was. "I want to stay with Rajan. If I think anything is wrong, I will come for you."

Mercy dropped her pack beside the stretcher and started pulling things out of it. "I'll try to be fast – I'm not going to talk. Give me a couple hours, though. It's... probably best if you don't come after me. I'll be trying to hide and get back to you. If it goes really wrong I'll try to set something on fire. If you see smoke, stay away." She smiled and it suddenly hit me that my twin sister was terrified. Whatever she'd seen down there that I hadn't was way in under her skin, and she was doing her very best to keep it away from me, whatever it was. Sudden tears stung my eyes.

She nudged Raj with a careful toe. "Take care of the luggage, ok? Oh, and if you get bored, you might try reading this." She handed me a thin notebook, half full of neat, handwritten Japanese. "I found it in the first house last night. You can test out your dictionary." She laid a hand on my shoulder and put her other one under my chin, drawing my face up until I was looking in her eyes. "I love you," she said emphatically. "Be safe, ok?"

I wrapped her in a tight hug. "Um, you too."

"Don't worry. I'll keep things under control here," Raj said as I let her go. He flexed his arm and grinned, his teeth flashing white in his dark face.

"Alright. Wish me luck, then. I'll be back as soon as I can." She turned and started walking back down the hill.

"Good luck," Raj called after her.

"We'll pray for you," I added earnestly.

"Thanks, munchkin. See you soon."


	4. In A Place Like This 4

_Mercy_

The town looked exactly the same the second time I entered it as it had the first, only wet. The rain had pounded for hours and then dissolved back into mist. I moved without a flashlight, letting the diffuse light of the lanterns filtering through the fog guide me. I didn't want to draw any more attention to myself than I had to. I'd spent most of last night making Mills and Raj and I look like part of the wall while lightning flashes gave every shadow or tattered drape a lifeless human face, and the whole experience had left me seriously jumpy. Not all of those faces had been shadows or drapes, either. Some had definitely peered into the dark at us, as if aware of my illusion, and mere shadows don't moan or have footsteps like some of those specters had.

The butterflies, though, were growing on me. The more of them that collected in our little entry way, the fewer apparitions wandered near us. I hadn't seen any at all once the butterflies had circled the room. I hoped some of them would find Millie and Raj on the hill. Millie would love it, and any additional shred of protection they could muster would add to my peace of mind.

I skipped the house I'd searched last night; if Millie found something useful in the notebook or if I couldn't find anything helpful in the other houses I'd go back and do a more thorough search. For now I wanted to cover ground, familiarize myself as much as possible with the whole village to improve my chances of recognizing something important when I saw it.

The mansion across the river was probably the best place to search; the house was heavy with authority. I couldn't quite face the prospect, though, not so soon after last night. Not jumpy and exhausted as I was, not without a functional flashlight.

Instead I picked randomly between the two houses that surrounded the little path, trying the first set of doors I came to. They were locked. I was a little surprised about that; somehow I'd expected all of them to be open. Next time I checked in with Millie I'd have to get the ax, in case I ran into more problems like this. The next door I found, for the house on the other side, was open, and I let myself in.

The room I entered was almost pleasant. The entry way itself was sunken relative to the rest of the room; a wooden platform edged the walls across from me and to my right. There were screens set around the platform, but unlike the other two houses I'd been in the ones here were practically whole and relatively clean. The left wall had some sort of oven, with unbroken, ungrimed pots and pans, and there was a rug on the floor. A person could actually live here. And when I flicked on my flashlight it worked. I shut it off again, since I was going for secrecy and there was enough light for me to see by, but it was nice to know it would be there if I wanted it.

A single door led off the first room, although a big section of the wall next to the door had collapsed and made a jagged and splintery second exit. I went through the regular one into another large, relatively well lit space. This one, though, was substantially creepier. Three dark haired dolls, each nearly the length of my arm, hung in the middle of the room, suspended from the ceiling by their necks. An extra noose hung beside them, all the more disturbing for its readiness. The light came from candles in the corners, and it flickered and writhed, exaggerating the slight sway of the dolls on their tethers. Definitely not a place I wanted to linger.

High shelves near the dolls bore boxes and trunks, like maybe this was some kind of storage room, but I didn't see any signs of papers or books. Nothing helpful. I told myself it wasn't running away if there was nothing productive I could do here.

The hallway on the other side of the creepy doll room had four doors; I decided to start with the nearest one on the right hand side and work my way around. I'd been lucky so far; no ghosts at all. Maybe we should have stayed here last night instead of the mausoleum across the river. If only I'd known. Of course, then I wouldn't know even as much as I did now about what we were facing, and that might be deadly. Still might be deadly. Next time we were going to Michigan for vacation. Let's just see some infernal... _oh, wait, there's some sort of nether portal in Detroit, isn't there. Or was that __Cleveland?_

The two right hand rooms connected with each other; both were empty but for the tatami flooring. I wondered what they'd been for; there was no sign of their intended purpose. Or maybe you just had to be Japanese and used to houses like this to see past the dearth of furniture.

I went across the hall, into a room that must have been the family altar room. Again, it was almost empty but for a lantern in the middle of the floor and a few cushions for prayers. The altar was beautiful, slightly cobwebbed at the high corners, but intricate and crowded with beautiful symbols I didn't understand.

No papers here either.

There was a tapestry by the door, and a hole in the wall that gave me a glimpse into the room next door. It looked like an office; there was a big desk against the wall, with candles to light the workspace. Once I searched that room I could go on to the rest of the house. I was already halfway done with the ground floor, if my estimations were correct, and the second floor was half the size of the first. If it kept up like this, I could search the entire village and be back to Millie with exactly nothing of use by dinner time. Oh, well. Best get it over with. An office ought to have _something_ I could use. I slid silently into the hall and in to the next room.

Not an office; a workshop. From this angle the desk was hidden by yet another screen, but low shelves near the door held jointed wooden legs, bits of cloth and hair, sharp looking tools and a single glass eye, winking in the flickering candle light. Dollmaker's workshop. _Yeah, I bet his trade in no way backfired on him when whatever it was that happened here went down..._

Something moved on the other side of the screen.

I dove for the floor, suppressing a squeak of terrified surprise, and wiggled as silently as I could into the corner. I projected the illusion of empty space around me; it was a strain, after last night, and made me a little sick, but whoever, _whatever_ was on the other side of the screen wouldn't see me and would think I left through the open door. _The open door..._ I hadn't even thought about it. Had it been open when I left the creepy doll room? I couldn't remember. _I'm not good with details, I've never been good with details..._ Details were going to get me killed. I held my breath as the floor creaked.

A man came around the corner of the screen. An Asian man, tall and well muscled, wearing dark jeans, a black T-shirt, a backpack, and carrying a flashlight. He looked... remarkably solid. And slightly perplexed, from the one eyebrow I could see over his raised antique camera. He panned the camera around a couple times but didn't take a picture. I wondered what in this empty nook he could possibly want a photo of.

"I could have sworn..." he muttered, lowering the camera but continuing to visually pan the room.

He was beautiful, quite possibly the best looking man I'd ever seen. And he was speaking English. I pushed myself off the floor and dropped my illusion at the same time, greetings tangling up on my tongue.

He'd been looking back at the desk when I stood up; when his eyes made it back to me he jumped and the camera, still clutched at chest level, went off in his hands. I blinked against the sudden flash but otherwise stood still. It wouldn't be polite or wise to startle someone here if it could be avoided.

"You're alive," I said as my vision returned. The stranger was watching me cautiously through narrowed eyes, camera still half raised. He looked exhausted, I noticed, his face drawn, his skin and clothes smudged. Despite the obvious signs of hard ware, he was steady and judicious as he looked me over.

"As are you," he noted.

"I... wasn't expecting anyone living. I thought we were the only ones. Are you alone?"

He nodded, the camera lowering fractionally. "Are you?"

"No, but my friends aren't nearby. I assume you don't live here or anything?"

He smiled cynically. "Definitely not. I am eagerly in search of an exit."

"Us, too." I stepped forward again, extending my hand. "My name is Mercedes. Everyone calls me Mercy."

"Akizuki," he replied, shaking. "You should get with your friends."

"I'll get there eventually, but first I have to find a way to get us out of here. I don't suppose you know what's going on?" I asked a little wistfully.

He sighed. "I'm trying to figure that out. I do know that there's a portal to hell under the house across the river."

_Well of course. It all makes sense now. What trip to Japan would be complete without a local hellmouth? _"First Viv's turn, now mine," I muttered. I took a breath, tried to think. "Ok. So these things usually have guardians, right? And something must have gone wrong with the guardians, or we wouldn't have malevolent ghosts all over the place."

Akizuki's left eyebrow went up about three inches; apparently his deadpan delivery on the 'portal to hell' line was because he hadn't expected to be believed, much less assisted, by the foreign woman cowering in the corner. _You've got a thing or two to learn about Valentines, buddy. We pull our own weight._

_Even while cowering._

He ran a thoughtful hand through his short, spiky hair. "There were guardians, and some sort of pacification ritual. Something to do with twins, twin girls."

And just like that I couldn't breathe. Whatever was coming from that would not be good. "Twin girls?" I managed in a semi-normal tone. "Why do you think that?"

He swung his pack forward and unzipped a pocket, revealing a handful of books and a sheaf of documents. "I've scavenged some reading material."

"I see. And what, specifically, does it say about twin girls?"

"Specifically? Virtually nothing. But there are twin deity statues posted everywhere around the village, and twins are clearly essential for the ritual. And," he paused for a moment, assessing me with careful eyes, "while it's not explicitly stated, human sacrifice is heavily implied in some of the journals. It would not be out of the ordinary in cases like this."

I thought of Kirie, and then I thought of Millie in Kirie's place, and then I thought about flowers so I wouldn't throw up. At some point in the process I took a seat on the floor. "Oh, joy. Ok." My hands were shaking. _Redirect; have to steer the conversation away from my sister... _The walls in this place had ears, I was sure. And I knew nothing about this stranger. "The more important question is do you know how to get out of here? Any writings on that?"

"Afraid not."

"Guess we keep looking, then. Would you like to join me?" _I take it back. I know a little bit about you. Strong, informed, blessedly alive. _Much better than anything I'd expected to find. _And pretty smokin' hot, I'm not gonna lie. _

_Mercedes, now is _not_ the time._

Akizuki shrugged. "The more the merrier."

And with that rousing endorsement I supposed we became partners. "Great. Glad to have you. Where have you searched so far?"

"The hill and the shrine adjacent to it, the first house as you enter the village, the home and servants quarters to the east of that, and most of the perimeter." He grimaced. "I'm working my way up to the one across the bridge."

I pushed myself off the floor. "We stayed there last night, but we didn't search it. I've been through the one to the south as well; I found a book in the back garden, but I couldn't read it. I left it with my friends, on the big hill south of town."

"Let's head there, then, if you don't mind. We can compare notes and formulate a plan."

"And spare me the rest of this house? However will I cope?" I grinned. "Let's go, then." I headed for the door but stopped as a flicker of red floated into the room. "Oh, look! It's one of those bioluminescent butterflies that are all over here. We saw a bunch of them last night..." It was headed straight for me. I took a step back, to give it space, but it landed on the collar of my T-shirt, big red wings fanning gently across my neck. "Um." So much for not touching the strange glowing insects.

Akizuki was watching me and frowning. "How rare."

"Do you think its safe to shoo it away?" I asked. "I don't know of any butterflies that are poisonous, but I don't know of any besides these that glow, either." I needn't have worried; maybe it sensed the impending shooing or maybe it realized I wasn't nectar-producing, but the butterfly flitted away. "Oh, never mind, then. Do you want to go first, or shall I?"

He ran his hand through his hair again. _No wonder he keeps it spiky._ "You'd better. Places like this tend to have things pop at you from behind."

"Alright. Um... do you happen to know how to distract a ghost, if you need some room to run away? I could just run up yelling at them, but it's not very subtle and I don't even know if it would work."

He snickered, his eyes alight with interest like I'd suddenly done something very strange. _Grown wings? Started glowing? Maybe butterfly-ness is contagious..._

"I don't think there's much you can do," he laughed.

My turn to shrug. "I guess you're on your own, then," I told him.

The butterfly saw us out.


	5. In A Place Like This 5

_Millie_

I pulled a lollipop from a pocket of my pack and snuggled in next to Rajan, grabbing a wounded-boyfriend's-eye view of our camp. "There're no stars." I don't know why that was worse than no sunrise, but somehow it was. I could always believe that the sun was just behind the horizon, but a deep black sky without a single star... It was gloomy and cold looking.

"No moon, either," Raj said, wrapping an arm around me, his fingers toying with my hair. "It's completely dark." He chuckled. "At least Mercy won't have to worry about sunscreen."

I smiled at that. One less thing to worry about. "You think she's okay?" Mercy had been gone a long time. Or at least it felt like a long time.

Raj didn't sound worried. "Mercy's tough. She'll get back here ok. I just hope she can find us a way out." He laid his head on mine, twirling his finger in my ponytail. "What are the odds she'll come across a decent burger joint while she's down there, you think? Or a stash of opiates? 'Cause I could go for either one just now."

Poor brave boy. There he was with his leg snapped in half and he was trying to cheer me up. I turned my head and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry this happened."

"This is your fault how? I thought you said you didn't push me." He put a hand under my chin, scrutinizing me playfully, and then pulled me back to his shoulder and patted my head. "Don't sweat it, ladybug. Stuff happens. I feel a lot less stupid about this than I would if I'd pulled an Aero and broken it jumping off my own roof. We're going to have a hell of a story to tell when we get out of here."

I laughed. "We are, aren't we? And I'll write on your cast so much that no one else can sign it."

"No hearts or flowers, ok? I have a certain dignity to maintain."

I started doodling hearts on his chest with my finger. "No, it will all be manly things like Jeeps and footballs."

"Awesome. Hey Mills, can I get some more pain meds? And maybe some water? Sorry to be such a pain."

"Never." I sat up, digging the painkillers and the water bottle from my pack. I shook the bottle, watching the bubbles swirl in the orange brazier light. Down to about half full. I handed it to Raj with another dose of pills. "Here."

"Thanks." He swallowed and lay back on the stretcher. "So, wanna play tic-tac-toe or somethin' till she gets back?"

"I- look, I see her!" Between her brown shirt and her dark hair she looked like a floating face over a pair of pants in the darkness, but it was her. I jumped up and waved. "Mercy, did you find anything?"

She was grinning as she got closer, and there was something moving behind her...

"Much more than I expected." She was laughing the way she does when she's about to spring a really good joke. "Millie, Raj, meet Akizuki. Akizuki, Millie and Rajan, my friends."

"It's a pleasure."

The something behind her stepped into the firelight and became a hot, strapping Asian man with an antique camera and perfect hair. Where had she come up with him? And would it be too obvious if I gave her a thumbs up?

Raj waved from the stretcher. "Hey, man. Nice to meet you. Sorry I can't get up to say hello properly."

"I found him wandering around in one of the houses. He seems to be in much the same position as we are, except he can read Japanese and..." She turned to him. "I'm sorry, how long have you been here?"

The stranger shrugged. "I have no way of knowing, but I would guess about a week."

Mercy winced as she looked back at us. "...and he's been here seven times as long as us, all alone." She turned back to the stranger, stuffing her fingers in her back pockets like she does when she's trying to be casual. "How have you stayed alive so long, if you don't mind my asking?"

_Alive_? Was it really that bad down there? Apparently, 'cause he didn't treat it like an odd thing to ask.

"Well, it's funny, actually. It's this camera I found." He lifted it so it would catch the brazier light better. "Freaks them out pretty bad."

Mercy leaned in and ran a finger across the old fashioned housing. "The camera?"

"Yes."

"It looks old. You say you found it?"

He nodded. "Mmm."

"Sweet. Well, keep it close. I've actually heard of something like that before; it's supposed to work really well. As you have already discovered."

"Viv found one, didn't she?" Raj asked.

"Yeah. I feel a lot better knowing we have one, too. Hey, Millie, do you mind if Akizuki has a look at that book I left with you? Could you translate any of it?"

Oh, yeah. The book. I felt my face flushing. "Um, I didn't really look at it." I fished it out of my jacket. "Here."

He held the pages up to the orange glow of the brazier fires and scanned down them quickly. "Hm. Notes a woman wrote to her missing lover. Not much use."

"Too bad. Guess we'll have to go back and look some more."

"Again?" Raj didn't like that idea much, but what else were we going to do? "I guess Millie and I can keep cooling our heels up here."

Our new friend knelt down beside Rajan's stretcher and frowned at his splint. "Hm... broken femur?"

"Yeah," Raj shrugged. "Climbing accident. Or climbing sabotage, maybe. I'm starting to think it was the second one."

Mercy spoke up angrily. "I think so, too. His ropes were cut. All of them, clean through." So that's why she had gone climbing again, to check the ropes.

"And then I was pushed. There are hand prints on my chest."

I pushed up his shirt and played my flashlight across his pecks. The hand prints hadn't faded any.

"Our own personal engraved invitation maybe? Or a rock through our window." Mercy shrugged. "Too late now if that was supposed to be a warning."

"We didn't have anywhere else to go," Raj added.

"It's good that I found you, I think. If you don't mind, I'd like to get a little bit of sleep while I have the chance. After that, Mercy and I will go investigate the house across the river. If," he added diffidently, "that's alright."

Mercy was in favor. "Yeah, that's fine. Hopefully it will be more productive than the last houses. Um... Millie and Rajan, they should be safe here, right? We haven't seen anything spooky this far out of town."

"We'll be fine, Merc. Don't worry about us." I put on my most fearsome expression, baring my teeth and raising clawed fingers. Mercy didn't exactly flee in terror, but she got the idea.

"Alright. Well, we don't have to go quite yet, at least. You're probably in need of food, too, aren't you?"

"Oh, yes," the stranger agreed. "I think it's been about two days, on either front, although I can't be sure."

Two days without food or sleep? I started digging in my pack right away. "I'm afraid we only have chex mix and apples." I threw him one; he caught it with a bow and dug in.

Mercy was also delving into pockets. "I have some granola bars and dried apricots and some almonds, I think, and I bet Raj has jerky stashed somewhere."

"Left side of my pack, center pocket," Raj said promptly. "I don't know where it is now, though."

"I do!" I remembered moving it, now that he brought it up. I found the package and lobbed it at our new friend, who caught it easily despite its slightly off-kilter flight path.

"See? A veritable feast. And," Mercy tossed Akizuki a mass of soft, dark cloth tied into a tight bundle, "here's a sleeping bag, and a fleece you can use as a pillow."

"Oh, wow." He immediately began laying the bedroll out on the ground, his movements decidedly cheerful.

"So," I asked my sister, "how does it look down there?"

"Grim. Creepy. Very, very dark. But we're going to find a way out."

Raj propped himself on an elbow so he could catch the newcomer's eye. "If you're teaming up with Mercy, you have to take good care of her, ok? She thinks she's superman. You gotta watch that."

Mercy crinkled her nose up and stuck her tongue out at him; Akizuki laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Right," Mercy said, dropping a water bottle and a granola bar on the freshly prepared bedroll. "Next time we're in a haunted village together, I'm going to make sure some of _your_ friends come along and make uninvited comments about _you_. See how funny you think it is then."

Akizuki just grinned at her. "Here's the camera, in case you need it quickly." He had a nice smile.

Mercy took the camera and put the strap around her own neck. "Thanks. Sleep well." He didn't waste any time settling down to follow her advice.

I settled back next to Raj again, and Mercy came, too. "You hangin' in there?" She asked softly as she sat down.

Raj smiled, although it was kind of more of a grimace. "You know me. Man of steel."

"I thought that was me," Mercy ribbed, and Raj smiled for real. She leaned over his broken leg. "Your leg is pretty swollen."

"It hurts," he admitted.

She pulled back the sliced flap of his favorite climbing pants and ran her flashlight beam over the huge purple bruise covering his skin. "You have a lot of blood building up. I can try to do something about that."

"More fun with your pocket knife, huh?"

Mercy smiled. "Yeah. Think I'm going to wait until our guest is good and out, though. Don't want to freak him out quite that much."

"You should try not to drool on him, too."

Mercy smacked him lightly. "I'll be discrete."

"So," I asked, taking Raj's shoulder for my pillow again, "other than survival photographer hunk over there, what did you find?"

"A lot of creepy, cursed buildings. My investigation didn't get very far, but Akizuki has had a lot more chance to poke around, and so far I agree with his analysis. There seems to be a hellgate down there, like the one at Himuro that Viv found. Whatever happened, it destroyed the whole town. This place is seriously bad news." She looked at the camera cradled in her lap. "I'm tempted to take this and go looking again right now. It's got to be somewhere down there, everything we need to know. I hate to waste any time."

Raj's voice rumbled beneath my ear. "Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and veto that idea. Given the choice between wandering a haunted hell hole alone or in pairs, you always stay in pairs. You also want to avoid making out, showering, spending much time in a locked car, and going to see what that noise was. Nothing good comes of that."

Mercy laughed. "Too bad we're not all ten years younger. Then we'd be sure to get out of here alive."

"I'm too cute too die. And since he's injured and my love interest, I think that makes Raj safe, too."

"Well that puts me in a bad spot. I guess all that's left is for me to go heroically to my fate." Mercy frowned thoughtfully. "I think the accepted way is to sacrifice myself holding a door for you. Open or closed kinda depends on the genre."

Suddenly the conversation wasn't funny anymore. "This is real life, not some dumb movie. I'm going home, and you are, and Raj is, and what's-his-name over there, too. We all are. Everybody."

"Of course we are, ladybug," Raj soothed, twisting his neck until he could kiss my temple. "Don't sweat it. Mercy's just teasing."

"We're Valentines," Mercy agreed, reaching over to poke me in the nose. "I believe it's already been proven, more than once, that you need something a lot worse than ghosts, demons, or hell gates to get rid of one of us."

Until it doesn't. Being a Valentine hadn't stopped our cousin Lila from being an orphan. "Just be careful, ok? Stay hidden, stay together, don't do anything stupid."

"Isn't that the family motto?" Raj chuckled. "If it isn't, it should be."

Mercy snorted. "If it were we'd have to disown Aero. And Aiden. Oh, and Jonah. And Cain! Can't forget Cain. Most of the male cousins."

"Point," Raj conceded.

"Not necessarily. There's always reeducation." I peered at Mercy over my boyfriend's broad chest. "Grandma Lu's a biochemist, she could come up with something effective, I bet."

"She is brilliant," Mercy agreed. "Maybe we'll have to call a family meeting and suggest it. In the meantime, let me fix up that leg of yours."

I settled back and searched for happy pictures in the black on black clouds, holding tight to Rajan's hand.


	6. Name, Quest, Favorite Color 1

_Mercy_

"Ready?" The Japanese man had slept for just over eight hours and then breakfasted on jerky and apricots. He looked refreshed as he hoisted his pack and strapped the camera around his neck.

"Yeah." _Flashlight, water, first aid supplies... that should be it._ I hugged Millie. "Off I go again. You two, stay safe. I'll see you soon."

She nodded and patted my back, watching in silence as Akizuki and I walked down the hill. I searched for suitable small talk. "So, you seem to be handling a week in a haunted village pretty well. Most people would be ready for a padded room within the first day."

He pursed his lips, tightening down on a sardonic smile. "You could say I've had some experience." He didn't elaborate. "What about you? You're holding yourself together pretty well."

"Experience, likewise." How to explain... "I had an unusual childhood. This is my first Japanese hell gate, but not the first for my family."

"Really?" Now that he hadn't been expecting.

"Yeah." _Via made it out. We will, too._ "Remind me to tell you the story, once we get out of here. My sister actually got a friend out of it, too."

"Your sister?"

"Vivian, the one who found the camera."

I quieted as we came off the hill, and Akizuki didn't seem to object. We rounded the first corner in the village, the scene just as it had been when we walked out. Time just didn't exist; the street was a tiny trail descending through a midnight cleft. _The valley of the shadow of death..._ I had whole new imagery for that now. It was literally where we were. "I will fear no evil, for thou art with me," I muttered.

"_'Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life'_," Akizuki quoted. "Somewhat more literally than usual in this instance."

"Millie's goodness. We left her on the hill."

"Mercy alone is better than I usually have. Heard it before, have you?"

"A time or two. It's one of my favorite scriptures."

"I haven't seen much of still waters. I found more familiarity in other passages. _Why is light given to a man whose way is hid?"_

_ "_The light is so you can find the path." I took his hand. It was a crazy, impulsive thing to do, not like me at all, but he let me. "It never goes smoothly, but at least we're not walking alone."

We stayed like that, hands clasped, until we reached the doors to the bridge.

"This bridge is about ready to be condemned," I warned as we strode out onto the broken planks. "Both times we've crossed it I- wait! I thought I saw something moving in the water." Just like before, the motion of something white, and a trailing shadow of weeds or cloth or... _Hair. Say it. It looks like hair. _Akizuki was staring into the water, searching for what I'd seen. I leaned in close to him and pointed. "There, beneath the hole. Moving to the left."

"I see... something..." He pulled the camera up, readying it. Nothing came up from the water.

Something dripped on my shoulder.

I jumped and spun, Akizuki turning half a second behind me. There was a woman floating in the air, her face bloodless and the flesh flaking from her fingers. Her dress and hair floated freely around her in the air and her limbs drifted as though she weren't above the surface at all, and we had somehow been sucked down instead. She opened her mouth and dove toward us.

The camera flashed as we dodged, but it only lit the fringes of her sodden skirts. She let out an unearthly scream and rolled to the side, chasing Akizuki as he struggled to get enough distance to aim again. I pounded down the bridge after them, running and shouting, but I might as well have been invisible.

Akizuki managed to ready the camera again, but as he aimed it she faded into the darkness. "Too far away..." he muttered, eyes roving across the black sky. Swirling hair materialized once or twice and water spots flung themselves in a wide circle around us, but there was nothing solid enough to shoot at. Not that I had a weapon to shoot with.

Well, if I couldn't fight I could at least not be a target. I hadn't been able to sleep on the hilltop, but I had rested. Hopefully that would be enough. I pulled darkness around me, trying to stay out of the way. I did my best to stretch the illusion over Akizuki, to hide him from the apparition's dead eyes, but he was moving too much, searching for a shot, and I wasn't as rested as I'd hoped. All I could do was make him flicker, and the attempt made the world swim and forced me to my knees. When Akizuki reached out to take my arm and pull me farther along the bridge I wasn't there.

She picked that moment to fully materialize above us, but Akizuki didn't take the shot. His eyes weren't on the specter hovering above him, they were searching down the bridge. "Mercy?" The word was almost a bellow, far and away the most intense sound I'd heard from him in our two hours of conscious acquaintance. _He's looking for me. I'm going to get him killed... _I stopped hiding.

"I'm fine! Focus on her."

He did, bringing the camera to bear immediately. Bony fingers stretched for him, dark hair curling toward his face. The camera flash blazed.

"Is it gone?" It was hard to adjust to the darkness again. "That was seriously- beneath you! Look out!"

He didn't hear me in time. She knocked him to the planks, sending the camera skidding out of his hands. I lunged for it and managed to stop it before it tumbled off the edge of the bridge. _I've never actually seen this work... he seemed to just point and click. _I aimed at the dead woman smothering my new friend and tried it.

The flash of the camera was like match to powder: the translucent, floating form of the ghost held the brilliance, was blown apart by it, bursting into a rain of ectoplasmic sparks that pattered soundlessly down over the water.

Akizuki lay still on the bridge.

"Akizuki?" No response. Biting back curses, I scuttled over to him, fingers searching for pulse and breath. _Don't be dead, please, please, please, don't be dead, don't be dead..._ I found both. Okay, good. Not dead, but not responsive, either. "Akizuki, can you hear me?" No movement; his eyes were still closed. I took his hand and started gently massaging his fingers, my other hand alternating between brushing his face and tapping his shoulder, anything to wake him kindly but quickly.

After an eternal fifteen seconds he groaned, and I almost scooped him up in a bear hug.

"Hey," I breathed as he stirred. He tried to rise and I put a hand on his chest to keep him down. "Take it slow," I advised. "I'll keep watch while you catch your breath. How do you feel? I don't think you're bleeding anywhere."

He took stock, wiggling his hands and feet. He shook his head and winced. "No, I'm fine. Just... don't ever let it touch you, ok?"

"Duly noted. And, just for the record, I love your camera. I get the feeling we both would have been toast without it. There's no where to hide on this bridge."

"We'd better get off it, then. C'mon." He sat up shakily and I helped him to his feet.

"You sure you're ok?"

He nodded, one hand to his head, and started for the far end of the bridge. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

"Alright. Let me know if that changes." I held up my hands, offering the camera. "You want this back?"

He waved me off. "Keep it. It's totally your turn."

His expression made me smile. "I get the bullseye for a while, huh? I suppose that's fair. Every time one of us goes out cold we'll switch."

He gave a hollow laugh.

"Oh, and I have something..." I pulled a bottle of water and a bottle of painkiller out of my bag; relief flashed over his face as he accepted them from me. He tossed down a couple pills and then handed both bottles back.

"Mercy... you did find somewhere to hide. For a little while there I couldn't see you at all."

He sounded hesitant; I could probably still talk him out of the memory. Head trauma, and ghosts and so on. But if we were going to search together it made more sense for him to know. It was just always so awkward to explain.

"When I was little I always won at hide and seek. It took me six years and almost giving my Mom a heart attack to figure out why. It sounds crazy, but I can, um, create illusions. Like magic tricks, but instantly. I can make myself look like a section of bridge, or an empty room."

He stared at me for a moment, processing. No trace of disbelief in his expression, which worried me more than its presence would have. "When we met-" he started.

"Yeah. Yeah, I was there."

"How do you do it?"

"No idea. And I'm not that great at it; it only works when I'm holding still, and I can't hold it a long time. It won't cover sounds or touch. But it was enough to hide us last night, when things passed by in the house. I can cover several people at once, sometimes. I'll use it to shield you if I can."

"Thank you." He didn't ask me anything else. Unusual, and I was grateful for it. I didn't have any answers, but that wasn't good enough for most everyone else who knew. _Most people who respect secrets have secrets of their own..._ I looked the gorgeous stranger over, wondering what those secrets of his might be. Anything, really. But I didn't have the luxury of being selective. I just had to trust. So far that was working out pretty well.

"So," he said as we approached the house, "here we are."

"Yeah, um, once we get inside our flashlights won't work. They shut off on us last night, but once we got outside again they were fine." The door was still wedged open; I didn't see anything moving inside, but all the butterflies were gone.

"Creepy." We stepped in the front doors and his flashlight flickered off. He hit the switch on it and tucked it back into his pack.

The room looked just as we had left it, from the ragged hangings to the withered and dusty vase of peonies in the corner. Being here again made my skin crawl. "Do you have a standard approach for searching these places?"

He shrugged, looking around and taking everything in. "Not really. I wander until I find something."

"Um, front to back and right to left, then?" I asked as I followed him toward the round window at the far end of the entry hall. "To be sure we don't miss anything?"

"Indeed. We'll start here." He tried the right hand door. It didn't budge. "Or not."

"Lovely. My plan fails spectacularly at the first door. I completely forgot to bring my lockpick and burglar's tools. Oh, or the ax, which we actually have. Guess we'll have to save that for later."

He fished a handful of keys from a pocket of his pack and shuffled through them, comparing them to the lock. "I've acquired some keys in my wanderings," he said, putting them away again, "but apparently not this one. Other side?"

"I'll just follow you."

He pushed the heavy wooden door aside. "Hello?"

We entered a big open room with screens, a few kimonos, a couple of candles and a trio of dressers. "If anything answers you," I warned, "I'm clocking you with the nearest hard object. After the ghost sits for its portrait, of course."

Akizuki went to the dressers and started opening drawers. "All these kimonos look like they would disintegrate if we touched them." He touched them anyway, sifting delicately.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't hit you with one of them. I'll use a table or a brass candlestick or something."

It took him a second to make the connection, but when he did he laughed. "Wow."

"It'll teach you to ask for trouble in a place like this," I said, smiling. "Trouble _always_ answers. Come on, I think this room is clear."

The exit at the other end of the room let us into a long, dark, dirty, candlelit hallway. Such a surprise. We took the first branch to the left, since that led us back toward the front of the house.

"Wait. You hear that?" Akizuki stopped me with a brush of his hand on my arm. The little noise that caught his attention swelled dramatically, from a murmur to an echoing moan that made my hair stand on end.

"Help me watch," I asked unnecessarily. Akizuki was already sidling in a slow, balanced motion, gaze evenly sweeping corridors and walls. I followed his example, my heart beating faster and the camera suddenly heavy in my hands. I couldn't keep it to my eyes; it narrowed my vision too much. The temptation, though, was strong. "Careful."

A bloody, leering face lurched out of the wall; I whipped the camera around and snapped a photo.

"Too soon," Akizuki directed calmly. "Not enough of it out of the wall." I'd stopped to take the picture, but he was still circling, his eyes straining into every shadow. Red patches were darkening into purple bruises under the sleeves of his T-shirt, bringing to mind his admonition: "_Don't ever let it touch you, ok?" _I snapped back to watching the hall.

The moaning was all around us, coming from everywhere. A woman's voice, sobbing in Japanese. "What is she saying?" I sidled closer, until I could feel his back moving against mine.

"Something about arms..." He dropped abruptly, his hands clenching my shirt and pulling me down, too. Something lurched forward into the space where our heads had just been. Akizuki pushed off the floor as whatever it was lurched backward again, using my back to flip himself out of its way and pulling me after him. I smashed my nose against his shoulder but he steadied me and twirled me around, bracing me as I brought the camera back up.

I couldn't tell from looking that it had been a woman. There was too much blood to tell that it had ever been human at all. The body seemed to have been wrapped in razor wire and used as a yo-yo, and both its arms were definitely missing. It lurched toward us again, and I felt like I was doing it a service as I snapped the photo and it dissolved in light.

I stood for a moment, rubbing my nose and letting the blood back into my fingers. "What did I tell you about trouble. You ok?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I don't think I'm ever going to sleep again, but yes, other than that I'm fine."

I heard his footsteps retreat behind me and tried to dredge up the will to follow.

"Mercy."

"Hmm?"

"Look at this."

I turned the corner and looked. Splotches and half a dozen hand prints covered the wall at the end of the hallway. A candle burned helpfully in the corner, barely a foot away, as if this was a magnificent fresco to be highlighted and admired. This was no work of art, though, not to anyone sane. The hand prints, the drips and smears and splotches were all deep red, the color of blood almost but not quite dry. Staring at the wall I could see indentations where bloody fingers had slammed into its surface, further marring the cracking plaster.

The only door was right beside the hand prints.

"I suppose we have to continue this way." Akizuki frowned inclusively at the wall, the candle, the stout wooden door and, by extension, whatever was certainly waiting for us beyond it.

"Yeah. We better. It certainly looks like something big happened here. It might be important. I can go alone, if you'd rather stay here."

"No way."

Alright, standing alone in the blood spattered hallway where we'd just been attacked didn't sound so hot to me, either. "I could leave you the camera. I'm good at hiding. I'd only be a minute or two."

"Splitting up is a bad idea. Come on." He stomped ahead of me through the door.

I raced after, ready to defend him, but there was nothing waiting in the room behind besides a few boxes and an old dresser. And blood. Lots of blood. It splattered the floor and most of two walls, even arced across the ceiling. It would take a lot of energy to get a blood pattern like that. A lot of effort. _If Jackson Pollack were a serial killer..._ A gleeful malevolence seemed to cling to the spatters. I hoped it was just my imagination.

"Huh. Well, I'll check the dresser and then I guess we can go."

"Kind of anticlimactic," he noted, beating me to the dresser and pulling out drawers. That was probably a better arrangement anyway. He could read Japanese, and I would be better able to fight ghosts if I wasn't looking at something else.

I was good on fighting ghosts for a little while, though. "I hope we can keep it that way."

"Key," he noted, slipping something into a pocket of his pack. He went back to searching and I went back to panning the walls. For just a second I thought I saw a door directly opposite the one we'd come in, but when I blinked it was gone. I must be getting tired.

Akizuki shut the last drawer and shook air out of an empty box. "Alright, there's nothing here, let's move on."

We made it back to the point where the branch passage joined the main one and began working our way through the house again. As we walked the temperature dropped; mist from outside began drifting up through a crack at the base of the wall. I slowed, tension rising in my muscles.

On the other side of the doors at the hallway's end, a woman started laughing.

"Uh-oh." I came to a complete stop, cradling the camera over my heart. "This feels bad."

Akizuki didn't respond at all. He was moving more slowly as well, but he was still walking, and he was ahead of me. As I watched he walked up to the doors. Like a man sleepwalking, he pulled them open and stepped through.

"Wait! Not without this!" I tumbled through the doors after him, the camera clutched high and ready.

The room was filed with bodies. They mounded on the tatami floor, oozing rivulets of blood that ran together to form a visibly growing lake which rippled in the stillness of the room. The stench of death permeated the air, and that laughter, the sound of death, continued in jagged, cascading bursts that twisted through me like splintering ice.

The doors slammed shut behind me.

I didn't bother tugging on them; they wouldn't open, I was sure. Not while she was standing there, staring at them, staring at us. She grinned at me, her shoulders wrenching with each barrage of giggles, from the point where the corpses were stacked the highest, a mountaineer triumphant at the summit. Empty eyes and gaping mouths spilled away from her. She was the epicenter, a beautiful monster in a blood drenched white kimono. She looked about sixteen.

She took a step toward us on slender, bare feet, her eyes alight with anticipation, paying no notice to the poor butchered souls that formed her bumpy carpet. They were her handiwork, although I couldn't say how I knew, or why I could feel those broken bodies under my own feet despite the clear floor beneath me. A red mist rose around her; it danced about her ankles as she took a second step, and a third.

Akizuki moved, finally, stumbling backwards until he hit the wall and then scrambling along it, trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and the carnage. Something was wrong there. He was pale, panting and shaking, his eyes fixed on the girl. He hadn't been like this for the lacerated woman, or the drowned spirit on the bridge. This was worse, certainly, but... whatever it was, I didn't have time to sort it out now. I stepped between him and the oncoming spirit, the camera clutched tight in my hands.

Her advance wasn't fast, but the force of her presence hit like a second gravity, pressing me downward, turning my legs to water. I couldn't tear my eyes away from her long enough to take in anything else, but somehow the faces of the slaughtered at her feet were burning themselves into my mind just the same.

Behind me, Akizuki was retching, overcome by the sight or by the smell that was somehow fresh despite the intervening decades, or maybe by the obvious homicidal insanity in the pretty young girl whose kimono was trailing blood as she advanced on us through a pile of corpses. I took a breath and thought about Dad to steady myself as I raised the camera.

_**Click.**_

Nothing.

I hadn't missed. She'd been dead center in my frame; the camera didn't have a lens cap or anything to get in the way. I'd seen the flash.

I aimed again, steadily, clicked the shutter release, heard the snap of the shutter, watched the flash. Felt tightness blossom in my chest as my only weapon had absolutely no discernible effect.

She was still coming, her face slack except for the tightness high in her cheeks that twisted her mouth into a mockery of a smile. Her dripping fingers extended toward me. She hadn't even blinked.

Akizuki was in bad shape, hyperventilating on the floor against the wall, his face the color of ash. He didn't seem really aware of what was happening beyond the immediate horror of the scene in front of us. Whatever happened next was going to have to come from me. It was an easy call to make; we only had one option left.

"It's not working! Run!"

I grabbed his arm and hauled him up; he wasn't steady, but he found his feet. That was enough for me to drag him around the corner and shove him forward along the dark walkway behind the decorative screens that curtained off the slaughterhouse. Maybe I could hide us... I raised the camera, guarding our retreat as Akizuki stumbled toward the back wall. She was still pursuing, still laughing, heedless of the mound of bodies at her feet. Something clutched at my ankle and I looked down to find the white fingers of a disembodied arm wrapping around my leg; I kicked and screamed and flashed another picture of the maniacal girl, trying to delay her advance...

The scent of rain blew in from behind me.

I glanced back over my shoulder and saw Akizuki standing in an open door. That was all the invitation I needed. I turned around and pelted for the doorway, motioning him through ahead of me. The second I was through I slammed the door behind us. It might not stop her, but if it could only obscure her view...

We were in a tiny garden, maybe ten feet on a side. No other doors, no exits at all except for a flight of stairs that ran up behind a concealing tower of bamboo. I could work with that.

I grabbed Akizuki again and pulled him after me, up the stairs. Halfway up, in the shelter of the bamboo, I halted, crouching and tugging him down beside me. I tossed up an illusion and waited, panting and dizzy, for the door to open.


	7. Name, Quest, Favorite Color 2

_Mercy_

We sat like that, crouched and motionless in the soft rain, until I could no longer hear my own heartbeat, and longer still, until my breath returned to normal. I let the illusion fall and we sat another minute in stillness; nothing came through the door.

"I can't hear the laughing anymore. Can you?"

Akizuki shook his head. I couldn't see him well even through he was barely a foot away; the garden was dark and the rain wasn't helping. He didn't look good, though, and his breathing was still fast and heavy. Fair enough, considering... "I'm not sure I want to know what happened here anymore."

He swallowed. "Let's just focus on getting out."

"Right. Away from here. You good to go on?"

He started to stand but changed his mind. "Just... give me a minute." His hands were shaking.

"Yeah, no problem." I reached into my shoulder bag and pulled out a bottle of water. "You want some?" He took it and poured a few gulps past his lips, then handed it back so I could do the same. I screwed the lid back on and tucked it away, thinking about the man I'd almost been killed beside.

"My favorite color is red," I said softly, leaning back against the wall of the house. "I'm the middle child in my family, and I like to read."

He looked at me a minute and took a long breath. "My favorite color is white, I have no family, and I like to travel." His hands steadied; he turned his palms up to catch the rain.

"I'm glad you traveled here." This place was way too much to handle alone. And the more I got to know him, the more I liked Akizuki. "I like to travel, too, although Millie's the one who's really crazy about it. We go pretty much everywhere together, her and me and Rajan."

His breathing was slowing and his shoulders didn't look so tense. "How do you know each other?" he asked.

"Millie and I?" I laughed. "We go way back. She's my little sister." I could trust him with that, after everything that had happened since the bridge. "Rajan's brother married my cousin, and they've both lived with us for years. He and Millie started dating a while back." _Meet the family. There's a lot of us, you might want to take it slow._

"You two are close?"

"Very. She's my best friend. We've done everything together for as long as I can remember. We practically have our own language."

He smiled a melancholy little smile. "I had a little sister once."

Ow. "Once?" _Please, let me never have to say that._ "What was her name?"

"Kirie."

"That's a beautiful name. I have a friend with that name, actually. What happened to your sister?"

"She passed away."

"I'm sorry. That must have been very difficult for you."

"It was."

I didn't pry. I took his arm and we sat, looking out on the garden in the rain.

"You ready to move on?" I asked eventually. "The sooner we get out of here the better."

"Yeah. Let's go." He stood and hoisted his pack. I joined him, with barely a backward glance at the door through which we'd escaped.

The stairs ended in a hallway, this time one lit with floor lamps rather than candles. I tried the only door in sight and found it locked.

"Seriously," I said, jiggling the handle, "maybe we should go get the ax."

"Let's get what we can here now, before we start hacking the place to pieces. Maybe we'll get lucky and won't have to come back."

Not coming back was a good idea. And there was one more door, around a corner in the hallway. "Alright, over here then." I tried the handle and the door opened easily. "This one's – books!"

He laughed as he joined me. "This one is indeed books. Let's see if any of them are useful."

"You read, I'll keep watch."

"This is a lot more relaxing with two people. Still, I think I'll just skim them and save the in depth reading for somewhere safer."

I thought of the laughing girl downstairs and shuddered. "I think that's wise."

Akizuki searched the bookcases and the low desk while I panned the room carefully with the camera. Like the entry way, it was filled with beautiful decorations that were now ravaged. At some point this really must have been a gorgeous house. Some distant, ancient point.

"There are some notes here that might be helpful. I'll tuck them away. Let's move on."

Apparently neither of us wanted to stay too long in any one place. I moved ahead and opened the next door.

"Um..."

He came up behind me. "What is it?" And then he saw that the room ahead was bathed in a uniform glow from no identifiable source. The light flickered rapidly, like a dying fluorescent bulb. "What the hell?"

"I don't know. Do you think it's safe to go in?"

"It's this way or back through the fireplace room downstairs."

The pile of bodies came back to me in stunning clarity and I swallowed hard. "In it is," I said shakily.

Despite the erratic nowhere light nothing jumped out at us or started moving. I kept a close eye on the two dolls propped against walls, just in case. Akizuki rifled through the drawers of an old dresser and pried the lids off the boxes stacked on top of it, but there was nothing there. The next door was unlocked; I went through it first, camera raised. "Oh, great."

Akizuki laughed at me. "More dolls. I hope you don't have a collection somewhere at home. You'll never look at them the same way again." He frowned. "These look like they've been disturbed." He slid the dolls along their wide shelves, aligning them according to some pattern that made sense to him but that I couldn't see.

"So what's the deal with the dolls, anyway? This is a serious piece of furniture." I gestured at the six shelves of the tiered doll stand. "The whole room is just for them." The bottom two shelves held books and jewelry boxes and incense burners lined up like offerings, all of them ornate and expensive looking.

He held two identical dolls, dressed in orange robes, scrutinizing them. When he answered me it was in an absent tone that made me surprised he'd heard my question at all. "They're objects of cultural significance..." His answer trailed off and he suddenly started moving dolls again, until the two center pedestals on the very top shelf were empty. He set the two orange-clad dolls on them with a triumphant flourish. Inside the shelving, something clicked.

"They're weighted differently; there seems to be some sort of compartment under here." He reached in and pulled out a key, holding it up for me to see and grinning.

"Excellent! Any idea what to use it for?"

"The design on the end looks like the lock on the door you wanted to chop to bits. The upstairs one."

"We'll try it there, then. Hey, do you see something under the stand?" He bent over to look. "Careful, don't get too close. I don't want you to get sucked under or something."

He looked up, cocking an amused eyebrow at me. "I can't get it without getting close."

"Use the candle stand," I suggested.

He grabbed the nearest one and used the base to slide a narrow white book with a butterfly on the cover out from under the shelves. The eternal candle barely flickered. "That worked well," he commented as he picked it up. "See anything else we should look at?"

"No, and the dolls are giving me the creeps. Let's get out of here."

We moved quickly through the rooms we'd just searched. "I hope there's another way out through here somewhere," Akizuki said as he slid the key into the lock.

_I hope there's not something worse waiting for us through here. _I knew better than to say so out loud, though. He turned the key and the lock slid back. He opened the door and stepped inside, then almost tripped over me trying to step back out again.

"Where?" I raised the camera, trying to lean around his broad shoulders to aim. I couldn't get a clear view...

He laughed sheepishly. "Never mind. There's a statue in the corner; for a moment I thought it moved."

"Hey, do not apologize. If you see anything humanoid in here, getting away from it fast is the proper first instinct. And yeah," I followed him back into the room, "that statue is seriously freaky. There's something wrong with it."

"It reminds me of someone I knew. Not the clothes, but something..."

Its expression was creepy, it was dressed in a loincloth, and there was a giant demon face on its abs. I didn't want to meet anyone similar to that. I looked around the rest of the room.

"Look! More books!" A giant hexagonal bookcase dominated the center of the room and floor lanterns provided reading light. "And a desk. And some creepy masks on the walls. And- duck, now!"

He did, without asking questions, so the staff whistling toward his head missed. "Get behind me," I instructed, trying to center the creepy old man with the pointed hat and veil, who had definitely _not_ been there when we came in, in the camera's viewfinder and praying that the camera itself still worked and the incident with the girl downstairs was just a fluke. Akizuki scrambled to his feet and sidestepped between me and the demon statue just as I clicked the shutter and sent the robed ghost staggering backward. _Hallelujah._

I let out the chilled breath I had been holding and took a step toward the statue, shielding Akizuki from the spirit's next lunge. I was almost too late. Its skeletal fingers stretched over my shoulder, brushing against my braid and snagging Akizuki's shirt before I could click the shutter again, triggering the ghost's explosion into fireworks of light.

"Holy sh..." Akizuki panted, lowering his hands from his head. "Thanks for that."

I was panting, too. "Sure. Anytime. You ok?"

"I'll be better when we're out of this house."

"You and me both. Let's look around. Also? I love this camera."

He smiled and began sorting through the shelves. "Keep it handy. I'm sure we'll need it again." He pulled a book down and opened it, one finger tracing along the neat columns of characters. "This looks promising, in a twisted, disturbing sort of way. The language is purposefully opaque, but I believe it's referencing the pacification ceremony." He plucked a second tome from the shelf and paged through it. "Ceremonies," he amended. "There appears to have been a second one, sort of a stop-gap... utilizing outsiders. Delightful."

"It's like you thought, isn't it. Human sacrifice."

"The text dances around it, but yes. Outsiders tortured and thrown into the pit, the shrine maidens," he turned back to the first book, flipped a page, "the shrine maidens are deified when one dies and is thrown into the pit, leaving their shared soul in possession of a body on either side of the gateway."

"Well, at least now we know for sure." _Do they know? Can it tell we're twins? We've been here too long. Got to get out. Get Millie out. _"And this pit it mentions is probably in the basement right below us, isn't it?"

"Mmm," Akizuki said, and continued leafing through volumes.

The stuff in front of me was all loose papers. "There are some notes on the desk here, too." I picked them up and brought them to him. "Any of this look helpful?"

"Yes. We'll take all of this." He put the notes in his pack. "One more side of the bookcase, and then I think we can go."

"What does this mean? This character on the bookshelf."

He looked up. "Butterfly."

"They really have a thing about those."

"Yeah, they do..." He didn't seem to be paying attention to that, though. He was looking at the slots next to the character, feeling the wood and shining his flashlight beam inside. "Hmm..."

"What is it?"

"I have a theory..." He flipped rapidly through the books again, weighed them in his hands, and then started plugging them into the slots in the shelving. He took them out again and rearranged them a couple times.

Somewhere in the bookcase I heard a click.

"There's another compartment." He fished inside, and I heard metal scrape against wood.

"How do you find these things?" I asked, standing on my tiptoes for a better view.

He shrugged, pulling a key from the depths of the shelving. "I grew up in an old house. It had lots of little secrets like this. Passages and compartments and secret locks."

"We need some of those for my house. I wonder if Grandpa had any built in."

"Your grandfather designed your home?"

"Most of my extended family lives together. I'm not sure who all got to contribute to the floor plan, but I'm pretty sure Grandpa directed most of it. Now that I think about it, we probably do have a secret passage or two, and I'd bet money at least three people have secret compartments. I'll have to go exploring when I get home." I let my mind touch only lightly on the thought; now was not the time to be getting homesick. "There's another room beyond the lattice there, but I don't think we can get to it." I scrutinized the sides, but they didn't seem jointed in any way.

"We'll go the other way, then. There will be another set of stairs somewhere. Or a hidden latch."

After his two secret compartment discoveries, I was keenly aware of that possibility. I ran fingers over the smooth wooden surface. "Been looking for one, but I don't see any sort of mechanism."

"If there is one, it might be on the other side."

"True." Wherever it was, it wasn't here. "Let's see if we can go around."

We opened the door to the next room, and it was my turn to pull up short. "This looks like trouble." The room was a little smaller than the one we'd just left, but it was further subdivided by rows of screens, creating little partitions with a center aisle.

"Indeed. The phrase 'running the gauntlet' comes to mind. I'll be bait." He strode forward confidently and I rushed to get the camera in place.

Nothing happened. He made it to the far side of the room and I followed and none of the little screened-in compartments held so much as a creepy picture. We looked at each other and shrugged and headed down the stairs that opened behind the last row of screens.

They ended in a storeroom filled with boxes and kimonos, a broken grandfather clock, even a full set of samurai armor. While Akizuki studied the armor I unlocked the nearest door and found that it opened back into the entry hall; if my search pattern had worked this would have been the first room we investigated.

I worked my away around the room as quickly as I could while still keeping an eye out for wandering spirits, but all I found in trunks and boxes were household items of a standard, non-haunted variety. "Anything good over there?" I asked Akizuki, straightening up over a trunk of spare blankets.

"If I was an antiques dealer it would be a treasure trove. Unfortunately, I'm not. I'm finished. Are you?"

"Yeah, let's go."

The door opposite the stairs we'd come down let us into yet another long, dingy, candlelit hallway. Life before electricity was not cool. Dark shadows pooled at the far end of the corridor, where it jogged away from its straight path. Almost exactly centered between that point and where we stood, a mammoth pair of ornate double doors waited.

"Well that looks..." _ Important? Promising? Ominous? _I couldn't decide on a word.

My companion smiled. "Doesn't it, though?"


	8. Name, Quest, Favorite Color 3

_Mercy_

Passing through the doors did nothing to diminish my apprehension. A massive altar, maybe 15 feet tall, dominated the room, various mysterious implements laid out in front of it in readiness, entirely free of dust or cobwebs. Twin buddha statues peered from the shadows at the back, their gazes expectant.

Between the altar and the doors the walls were lined with shelves, and every shelf was nearly full. Lanterns. Red paper lanterns, alight with flickering candles. Floor to ceiling across the entire room.

"Family altar room," Akizuki noted, watching me with a smile.

"Um, yeah. Can we go now?"

"Which way? We have three staircases." He gestured at the sides of the room, where two nooks were set among the shelves.

"Three? That seems excessive."

"One of them goes up; it might connect to the rooms we were in before."

"We should try that, then. Unless you can't wait to go down?"

One corner of his lips quirked up and he shook his head.

"Well," I decided, "let's finish with the upstairs first, then."

The stairs took us to a little room, mostly empty, with a window that overlooked the altar room. It didn't seem to go anywhere.

"Well, that was fast."

Akizuki was studying the floor boards. "A little too fast, I think. There's something on the floor here."

I pulled the camera up, just in case, but the circle on the floor didn't seem to do anything dangerous. A coal brazier burned low in the center of the room, casting a distant glow on the stone patch of floor.

"What is it?" I asked, lowering the camera as Akizuki rattled the handle of the tiny door next to the staircase.

"I dunno, but this looks like the only door. Very much locked."

I frowned and cautiously extended one foot, setting my toe on the stone circle. Nothing happened. I took a deep breath and shifted my weight; the circle moved, sinking into the floor. A soft click echoed from the door Akizuki knelt at. He jiggled the handle again, swinging it inward. I took a step forward, off the circle and towards Akizuki, and another soft click issued from the door. Akizuki frowned at it.

"That's the lock. If the door had been closed..."

I stepped back onto the stone circle, my stomach sinking with it as it receded into the floor again. The lock snapped back out of the way.

"Switch. It seems to require pressure," I whispered. "I'll stay here." Otherwise we'd both end up locked behind that door. I thought about sending the camera with him, but it was more important that he have an exit strategy. He could always run back to me if he found something nasty. If I was the one who had to run, he'd be in just as much trouble; the camera wouldn't free him. Maybe we should have gone back for the ax after all.

He crawled through the doorway and into the darkness, out of my sight. I bounced nervously in my spot, fiddling with my camera lens and trying to breathe calmly until he emerged again.

Eventually he crawled out, rubbing his neck. "Just a small storage room with some lattice," he reported, "looking into that office we were in earlier. It looks like that does it for the second floor." He turned and headed down the stairs. I followed quickly.

"Good. One step closer to being done." I looked at the stairs continuing down from the ground floor. "So that's next, isn't it?"

"We could come back after we've cleared this floor," he offered.

I sighed. "Let's see where it goes at least. Maybe it will only be one room."

"As you wish." He continued down.

"Wish is a little strong..." The stairway twisted and dropped us abruptly in a little room the size of a walk-in closet. It had another one of those little doors.

"Onward?" Akizuki asked, raising a dark eyebrow at me.

I tried to look confident and avoid looking at the little door at the same time. They were probably mutually exclusive, but the only person around to see me fail was Akizuki, and his eyes were fixed grimly on the sight I was trying to avoid. I took some comfort in the fact that I wasn't the only one unhappy with our route.

"Onward," I agreed. He nodded and took the lead, crouching and edging cautiously through to the other side. I knelt and leaned through the doorway, camera raised and ready to defend him.

No surprises. We were in another long, dark, dirty corridor. I could make out stairs at the far end, ascending again. "I'm starting to feel like a rat in a maze."

"Think there'll be cheese at the end?" Akizuki asked, in such a hopeful tone that I had to laugh. He grinned at me, only for a second, but I felt less trapped.

The feeling eased again as we reached the top of the stairs and found ourselves under an open sky.

"Wow. I was not expecting that."

Akizuki nodded, looking around just like I was. It wasn't quite outside - thick wooden fences rose over our heads and enclosed a split walkway that led to a towering, circular building ahead of us. But there was no roof, and there were small trees growing between the pillars marking the walkway. Dank air moved against my face, fresh and free after the bowels of the old house.

"There's another set of stairs here," Akizuki observed, gazing across the small space.

"Down or... hmm. What do you want to bet that's our other staircase from the altar room?"

"It does seem probable."

I trailed the other staircase back through a mirror image of the route we'd just taken and found myself on the opposite side of the altar room where we'd started. "Excellent." I turned around and almost bowled into Akizuki, who was right on my heels. "Oh, sorry."

"No harm done." He led the way back down the staircase and through the twisty passage to the little courtyard where the routes converged.

"So I guess that will be that one room we predicted upstairs," I joked, gesturing down the path toward our only available destination. _The one with the pit, the hellgate. _Akizuki laid a hand on my arm and motioned me back.

"If there's anything in there, you'll be its target soon enough. Let me distract it for you."

He led the way forward and I followed, praying that at least while we were under the sky there would be no ghosts. The path wasn't much of a breathing space; in no time at all we were facing the next door, Akizuki rattling the locked handle. Doors, actually, although we could only get to one from the side of the path we'd taken; the other stood a few feet to our right, at the end of the other half of the pathway. An inscribed stone was set into the ground in front of our door.

"It looks like the one upstairs." I set foot on it and Akizuki tried the door again, but it was still locked.

"It's designed for two," he speculated, looking at the second door. "If we want to go through, I'll need to take the other path."

I wasn't entirely sure we wanted to go through the doors; a simple storage room wouldn't merit this kind of entrance. Whatever this area had been used for, it was important, which made it that much more likely to try to kill us. Of course, that also made it more likely that we would find something useful. I readied the camera again as Akizuki came up the opposite path.

"There's another switch here. Ready?" he asked.

I nodded. "Here we go."

He stepped forward and both doors clicked. I reached out and swung mine open.

I stepped through with the camera raised, ready to do battle, but all I saw was Akizuki coming through his door and yet another set of double doors, these ones more solid than anything we'd seen yet. I lowered the camera slowly.

"I don't like that much."

"They don't look inviting," Akizuki agreed. "Like they were designed to withstand a siege. Or jail a monster."

"I'm guessing that these particular doors are going to be easier, much easier, to get through from this side than the other."

He nodded. "The gate is likely this way. It will become harder and harder to leave the further in we go."

_Vivian did this. I can do it too._ "Well, let's see what's behind door number... how many of these have we come through, anyway?"

That got a laugh. "I haven't been counting."

"We'll tally it up when we tell Millie what we've done so far." Camera firmly in hand, I followed Akizuki through the door.

People. There were people.

The room was built along the lines of a circus tent, vast, round, and pillared, rising toward the center, but there was no spotlight here. A knot of robed figures stood in the center of the room, looking up... at a man, tied and hanging, dripping blood from an impossible number of cuts. The ropes that bound him were red with it.

My trembling fingers clenched on the camera and the whole scene disappeared in a flash of light. Akizuki and I were left alone in the shadows.

"I'm not sure we should be here after all." It was hard to breathe in this room, and the stench of blood was heavy enough that I didn't want to. Beyond that, though, there was the queasy pulling sensation I felt, drawing me forward. I didn't feel quite connected to my body anymore.

"I agree. We should go back."

Neither of us moved.

"Do you hear that?" Akizuki asked me quietly.

I had been too busy arguing with my nervous system to pay attention. I focused my senses outward, aware as I did so that my feet started shuffling forward.

"Mercy?"

I could hear it. The whisper of cloth in the darkness.

"Try the doors," I suggested, knowing they wouldn't open. I raised the camera.

Behind me Akizuki tried the doors; I could hear the handle, but not the doors themselves. Footsteps, my own, scraping over the dirt-strewn floor. A whistle...

I turned and snapped a picture. I had a split-second vision of a tall man, bloody, his skin barely hung together, and a scythe descending on me. I screamed and rolled, throwing myself away from the blade.

"Mercedes!"

I lay completely still where I'd landed, my gift engaged and the camera ready. Akizuki couldn't see me, but neither could the ghost. I had about ten seconds for this to work before I wouldn't be able to hold the illusion any more. Fortunately the ghost was still right on top of me. I could see him now, a blur of gray against the darkness, circling the area where I'd been. He had no feet to step on me with, but the butt of the scythe pounded into the ground, breaking splinters from the wooden floor. It would probably do the same to my bones. I held my breath three long seconds, focusing through the dizziness and nausea of my overtaxed body, until I could have touched the apparition's ragged robes.

The camera flashed and the ghost screamed, hurling the scythe as he burst into glowing sparks. The weapon thudded into the door barely an inch from Akizuki before it, too, exploded in light.

I rolled away from the door and tried not to vomit.

"Mercedes?" Quick steps, and then a hand on my shoulder. "Mercedes, are you alright?"

"Yeah." I wouldn't be able to shield myself again for quite a while, but I was unharmed. "Just catching my breath."

He helped me up, surreptitiously checking for cuts and sprains. "Do you want me to take my turn?" he asked.

"Not yet, thanks. You've still had a worse morning than me."

He nodded, a concession rather than an agreement. "If you say so. Although you scared me there."

"Sorry. It happened too fast for me to plan well. Next time I'll try to tell you what's going on."

"Not if it's a distraction." He handed me the bag I'd dropped at the entrance. "I trust you."

It wasn't what I'd expected him to say, and it warmed me. "Thanks."

"Mmmm," he said, and tugged on the double doors. They opened.

I made it back to the twin paths at a pace befitting an Olympic speedwalker, my body slowly becoming my own again. I could still feel the pull of whatever was across that dark room, but whatever it was, my conscious mind wanted nothing to do with it.

There was no way out except back through the altar room. The red lanterns were all still glowing, beautiful and eerie. I liked them even less now than I had before. I led the way quickly back into the hall.

"We've got to be almost done," I said as we rounded the jog in the hallway. "There wasn't much of the house in this direction."

"This end of the house seems to most merit search." Ahead of us a narrow storeroom opened up, a low brazier burning in the center of the floor and a stool beside it. Most of the room was sectioned off behind another stout wooden lattice. This one, though, had a small door with two heavy locks set into it. It looked like a prison cell.

"For example..." Akizuki gestured at the bars.

"There are books in there, and papers." I tried the cell door, but it wouldn't open.

"Let me try."

I moved out of the way. Akizuki produced a handful of keys from a pocket of his pack, again comparing the design of each to the pattern of the lock. He selected two, fit the first one in the upper keyhole.  
>"Where did you get all those?"<p>

"Chests, shelves, the occasional secret compartment..." The first key turned in the lock and he inserted a second. It turned, and the little door opened.

He looked at it for a moment, then pulled the keys out and handed them to me. "You stay here," he instructed, "and keep the camera handy. I don't like the idea of both of us in such an obvious prison."

We'd been in several prisons so far, if you were counting rooms with spontaneously locking doors, but this was the first where staying on opposite sides of the door was truly feasible. I stuffed the keys in my pocket and readied the camera. "I'll keep watch for you. Good luck."

Time crept by. Akizuki was skimming, tearing through the library, jamming anything that looked promising into the pack for later study, but there were so many books it was still going to take a while. He read silently, and I did my best to stay alert without disturbing him. The tugging sensation grew in the silence, and so did the sensation of being watched. I needed something to do besides wait for death to jump out at me.

_You're a Valentine, Mercy. No freaking out. You've got to hold it together here, for Millie. What would a Valentine do?_

Both my parents were expert at handling tough situations, but Dad's approaches were... well, unpredictable didn't begin to cover it. Mom, on the other hand, was someone I could reliably emulate.

_What would Mom do?_

When Millie and I were little, maybe seven or eight, we'd gone on a camping trip. There'd been a big storm during the night. I usually love thunder and heavy rain, but it had scared Millie, and Millie's fear had frightened me. Dad had taken Vivi backpacking, so it was just the three of us, Millie sobbing on Mama's lap and me trying to look brave while the water poured in floods over the tent. Mama had smiled at us and called us her sweet girls, promised that she would take care of us. Then she'd sung to us until we fell asleep. She'd done the same the next year, when Lila's parents died and all three of us, Millie and Lila and I, had nightmares about fire for weeks. And then again, the time Dad had been lost for nearly a month. It hadn't even occurred to me until two years later that she might have been scared.

I sang to myself. Silently, so as not to disturb Akizuki or invite anything we'd be better off without, but singing none the less. I kept the camera panning, across walls and floors and ceilings, and went through every lullaby I knew. I could almost hear Mama singing with me. My shoulders relaxed and the tugging in my stomach disappeared.

_I can do this. We're going to get out of here._

I was trying to remember all the words to the fourth verse of 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' when Akizuki grabbed my attention. "This might be it!"

"What? What did you find?"

He scanned a few more pages of the book in his hand, and his face fell. "Never mind. The journal references a way out, but it appears to be a way out of the house, not out of the village. Leaving the village is mentioned, but without specifics. We'll have to keep looking."

"Drat. I was hoping you would tell me we could leave this hell house and never come back. I'd be happy enough to kiss you if I heard that, I think. Oh, well."

He smiled a lopsided little smile. "Sorry. If it's any consolation, I believe I'm finished here."

"It's alright. I'd spend a month here if it would get Mills and Raj out safely. Let's keep going. We're on a roll. Who knows what else we might find?" He ducked out of the little cell, his pack looking quite a bit heavier than when he'd gone in. What would we have done without someone who could read? For that matter, how would I have made it even this far without the camera? I laid a hand on his arm as he turned for the door. "Thank you. I never could have gotten this far without your help."

The little smile broadened into a grin. "You can kiss me later, once we've found a way out."

"Kiss you?" I grinned back and arched an eyebrow at him. "Who said anything about kissing you?" Before he could reply I turned away from the little cell toward the hall that led into darkness. "I guess this is our next route." I set out, Akizuki scrambling to follow me.

We followed the hallway to another downward leading staircase. I was beginning to harbor deep suspicions about those, but we had nowhere else left to look. I summoned another lullaby and crept down the creaking stairs.

They dropped us in a large, dirt floored cellar. A circular stone wall, probably marking a well, stood dead center in the room, and dusty shafts of light stabbed through holes in the ceiling and reflected dimly off the pale, sandy floor. "Well, this isn't creepy at all. You'd think the light would make this better, but sometimes I think it makes it worse. Do you see a door?"

"Looks like another staircase." He gestured to a shadowy corner on the opposite side of the room.

"Oh, I see it." Another one that looked like it was on the verge of collapse, crouched in the darkest shadow available, naturally. I made for it with ginger steps, trying to leave no prints and staying as far from the well as I could without scraping the walls. My fingers were tense around the camera. Akizuki paced the other side of the room; he was walking slower than I was, and keeping his eyes on the circle of stone. He was barely a yard from it. "Careful, something might jump out of there. It's a perfect spot for it." I set my foot on the first step of the staircase and it whined as though begging me to take it with us. Akizuki was standing still, leaning over to peer into the darkness between the gray stones. "You just love tempting fate, don't you?"

"I'm being cautious," he said sternly.

"Be cautious over here, on the stairs." I raised the camera and trained it on the opening as Akizuki backed slowly the rest of the way to the stairs. Twice I saw the flicker of something against the wall, but nothing emerged. I let him pass me; I didn't move the camera off the well until I heard the rattle of the door handle above me.

"I hope it doesn't take long to get-" he pulled the door open, "outside. Wow."

"Fresh air? I think I may kiss you after all. Come on, let's get out of here." I took his arm and pulled him out into the suddenly welcome darkness of the courtyard. I was reaching for my flashlight as soon as we were clear of the doors. I hugged it as it turned on. "I like my light better than theirs."

Akizuki pulled his out as well; it turned on with a click that was almost a purr.

"So," I said, sucking in a deep breath of dank air, "one down, four to go. We should probably get at least halfway through before we take a break." I panned my light across the still surface of the water as we walked the bridge, searching for any traces of motion.

"Only three to go," Akizuki corrected, the beam of his flashlight likewise occupied. "I searched the east-most house quite thoroughly."

"And we have the one where we met at least half searched, and the one on the south side as you come off the hill is smaller than the others. Did you search it yet?"

He shook his head. "Preliminary look only. We'll have to do it again."

"Alright, so it's more like two down, three-ish to go." We crossed through the gate at the village end of the bridge; I shut it behind us with a sigh of relief. "We should probably do the worst ones first, while we're fresh, so... finish creepy doll house next?"

"Naturally."

"Or maybe not. Aside from the dolls, that one actually doesn't seem too bad."

His voice was a frown. "I don't think its finished yet."

That sent a little shiver down my spine. "What do you mean?"

"I found some journals there, too. Nothing so useful as what we have here, but relevant to the ritual nevertheless. The doll maker who lived there had twin girls. They underwent the ceremony. They were young, barely of age to do it, and the murder broke the remaining sister." I shivered again, and Akizuki gave me a look. The story was about to get worse. "The father made a doll of the dead girl, life size, to comfort his daughter."

"He didn't."

"Oh, he did. And then realized he would have to kill it when it started walking and talking on its own."

"Possession," I guessed grimly.

"I imagine so," he nodded. "I'm not sure whether he succeeded or not. I need to do some more reading."

I hesitated. "Do you think we should do that first? Before we go in the house?" We were nearly at the doors already; if we weren't prepared, we needed to decide that now.

"I think we'll be alright."

I shrugged and took a skipping step to catch up with him again. "That poor girl. It would break me, too, to have to go through that. Millie is-"

A scream cut through the thick air. A scream from the hill.


	9. Name, Quest, Favorite Color 4

_Mercy_

A scream cut through the thick air. A scream from the hill.

"Millie!" Without a second thought I took off through the little village, the camera already poised at my collarbones. I'd left Millie alone. I'd left her... _Hang on, Millie. I'm coming, hang on._

I could see her through her attackers as I raced up the hill. She was braced under Rajan, an arm around his back and his arm over her shoulders, trying to pull him away from the oncoming spirits. Three. Three spirits, coming at her from multiple directions, carrying torches like I'd seen last night, but one had a huge staff that I definitely hadn't seen before, and another had a sickle he was swinging...

Raj screamed as the blade came down.

I hit the shutter, drenching the little hill in light from the flash. It wasn't close enough to do any actual damage, but it did get the rearmost one to turn and look at me. A few steps more and I hit it again. The one in the back, the one with the pole, staggered, and the two in front looked around. I had their attention.

"Will it take all three at once?" I asked Akizuki as he caught up.

"Yes, if you can get them all centered. Try not to let them overlap too much. And they'll need to be close."

"Can you get to Millie?" She was using the distraction, pulling Raj back toward the treeline, but he was too big for her to get very far, and his injured leg was dragging behind them.

"Give me the camera. You can hide the two of them."

"No, I can't. I've used it too much." **Click**, and they stumbled back for a second, but they were still coming. "Get to Millie, please! She needs help- you're stronger. I got this."

**Click**. They were angry now.

The one without a weapon swiped at Akizuki with his torch; I took another photo to keep his attention where it belonged and then took a step back, sidling a little to improve my line of sight. I waited.

Twelve feet. Eight feet. Millie was screaming my name; all three spirits were clutching for me, grasping translucent hands magnified in the view finder. Six feet. Five...

**Click**.

All three apparitions disappeared, exploding into balls of light that streamed away from where they had been standing, directly in front of my face. The nearest sparks were less than six inches from my nose, where the pole guy's skeletal fingers had almost brushed me.

Akizuki was helping a sobbing Millie to lay Raj back down on the stretcher. I waited just long enough for the spots to clear from my vision before I stumbled over to them. She was kneeling beside the stretcher, her face buried in Raj's short dark hair, her whole body shaking with the force of her tears. I dropped down next to her and wrapped my arms around her.

"Millie, I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry. Are you ok?"

She nodded. "Yeah," she gulped. "Don't- don't worry about me. I'm scared for Raj..."

"Be... fine..." Raj gasped, and Millie cried harder, reaching down to grab his hand.

I pulled myself back together and sat up. "Let me see, Raj. Did one of them catch you?"

"Leg."

Akizuki turned a flashlight beam on Rajan's legs and I had to bite my finger so I wouldn't yelp. Blood drenched his broken leg, soaking outward from a ten inch gash across his thigh. _Medical kit, where is the medical kit... _

"I'll be right back. Please keep the light right there." I dashed over to Millie's pack and shoved my hand into the bottom, fished out the dark blue first aid bag, the good one. I skidded back to my knees beside the stretcher. "Millie, did any of them touch you?"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Millie shake her head. "No."

"Ok. Ok, good." I peeled blood-soaked fabric away from the wound and wiped the skin with a sterile pad. For an ephemeral scythe, it had done a lot of damage. "This is gonna sting like crazy, but we'll have you all fixed up in a sec, ok?" I used alcohol for the wound itself; Raj groaned and tensed up like he was made of stone, but he didn't move. "Great. You're doing great. Almost done, I promise." The cut wasn't deep, not deep enough to justify any attempts on my part to stitch it, at least. Good. I pushed the edges of the wound together; Akizuki handed the flashlight to Millie and helped me administer gauze and tape and superglue until we had a bandage that would hold.

"We should probably reset the leg, but I don't think I dare. We need to get him home to Simon." I adjusted the bindings on his splint to make sure they would hold tight without disturbing the fresh wound.

"Did you find a way out yet?" Millie asked.

"Not sure. Maybe. Akizuki needs to do some reading, and we have some more houses to search. We'll let you and Raj get some rest before we take you down the hill, though."

Millie looked up in confusion. "Take Raj?"

Akizuki sighed. "Mercedes, toss me the camera."

I cocked an eyebrow at him and grabbed the camera with both hands. "Still my turn."

"I think you should stay with them."

"I don't think we should split up again. What would I do if something did come back? Even with two of us, we couldn't run very fast with the stretcher. Whichever group doesn't have the camera is helpless."

"You can't... cart me... all over. I'm... dead weight. Just stay within... shouting distance. Be fine."

Poor Raj. All that effort to speak and no one listening to him. There was no way we were leaving anyone on this hill without protection. "What if I left all of you with the camera and I go back alone? I can run, and I can hide. I can manage. Then you'll be safe and Akizuki can read."

The 'no' came in stereo, and so did the pointed looks. I crossed my arms and prepared to be stubborn. It was the best plan so far. "Why not? Logically."

Millie rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well, 'logically'? I think we need another camera. But doesn't it make more sense to bring the weapon into the battlefield instead of keeping it on the sidelines just in case? If there are a lot more of those down there..." She gestured toward the spot where the ghosts had disappeared, and then down toward the fog shrouded village and let her point settle in.

"Not when you're stuck and I'm mobile," I countered. "Down in town most of the ghosts seem anchored to a particular place. Even," I couldn't repress a shudder at the memory of the mad girl atop her gruesome hill, "even _that_ one didn't follow us around the house." And there hadn't been a ghost in every room. I felt an idea start to stir. "Maybe we can use that." I turned to Akizuki. "You've been here a while – do you think we could find a room that's ghost-free where they can wait? Maybe one per house, so we'd be close enough to get there in time if we needed to? I think it's that or all together."

He thought for a moment. "The shrine... under the tree. I stayed there for a few days and I never even had a poltergeist."

"That... sounds perfect. What do you two think?"

"Works for me," Raj managed.

Millie nodded. "Let's go."

"I'll help you ladies carry him," Akizuki offered, standing and pulling his pack back onto his shoulder.

"Thanks." I followed his good example, stuffing the medical stuff back into mine and strapping it on. Millie was all set to go, too. She and I each took a handle near his head while Akizuki took the front two.

"Glad I could... bring everyone... together," Raj grumbled, gasping in pain again as we lifted the stretcher. Millie winced, and I noticed the worry lines on her forehead that weren't going away.

Akizuki chuckled. "You inspire me, my friend."

Raj smiled in return. "Thanks, I guess. If you ever need... pointers on laying around..."

"Don't forget you're keeping an eye on Millie for me," I reminded him. "That's a valuable service."

Mills took one hand off the stretcher so she could reach out and stroke his cheek.

"Left here," Akizuki directed, and we started our descent off the far side of the hill.

The path led over a wooden bridge, actually intact, where I totally expected something to jump out at us, but nothing did. Nothing came after us from the graveyard we passed, either, which I supposed made sense; all the dead people were busy patrolling their houses, so no one was in the graveyard to see us go by.

Rajan's breathing was still strained when we reached the massive tree where Akizuki directed us to stop. "You're not sounding so good," I told him as I bent over the stretcher. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Fine, 'cept for the leg. Found any... morphine yet?"

"Not yet. Ghosts, blood, creepy dolls, disintegrating furniture, and eternal candles, but no morphine. I'll keep looking."

"This will be the hardest part, sliding him down there." Akizuki gestured with his chin toward a hole in the twisted roots of the tree.

"That's where we'll stay?" Millie asked a little dubiously.

Akizuki nodded.

"I'll go first, and we can pass him along." I surrendered my stretcher handle to Millie and slid into the hole.

It opened up enormously as soon as I was through. The whole center of the tree was hollowed out. Lanterns, monuments, and red pinwheels lined the inside of the trunk, and broad, level dirt floor stretched across the middle. It was perfect. Hidden and lit and warm and calm, even if the décor made it feel a little spooky. For Minakami this place might as well be the Ritz.

"Alright, I'm ready!" I called back, and the front end of the stretcher protruded into the opening. I took it, guiding it carefully. Millie's pack dropped through the opening and she came after it, wiggling in alongside the stretcher and making sure nothing bumped Raj's leg. Once she was firmly through she accepted the other set of stretcher handles, allowing Akizuki to follow her in unencumbered.

"This is nice," Millie said, looking around as we lowered the stretcher. "It's sheltered, and it feels clean."

"Will you be alright staying here?"

She nodded. "It's peaceful. You can do what you want."

"If you go out that way," Akizuki pointed out a second opening in the trunk, less steep but only a little, "it's only a short distance to the village. The first house you come to is Kiryu, the doll house we'll be searching first."

"Good. This place seems perfect."

"Except for the complete dearth of information, I think it is," Akizuki agreed. "I'd have stayed here if I could have."

"Do you mind if we stay here with them for a little while now?" I asked. "I'd like to spend an hour or two on hand, just in case."

"No problem," he ran a hand through his hair again. "It'll give me a chance to read, see exactly what it is we found."

"You should probably sleep and get some food, too. You had an exceptionally rough morning."

He smiled. "Yeah, I guess. Tell me when you're ready to go back." He dropped his pack beside a bank of pinwheels and fished out a journal. I left him and crossed the tree to where Millie knelt beside the stretcher.

"How you holding up, Mills?"

"I feel like this is a dream and I want to wake up and buy Rajan ice cream. Except I know that it isn't because I'm cold and my fingers itch."

"Your fingers itch?"

"Yes." She pulled two blankets out of her pack.

"You didn't run into poison ivy or anything, did you?"

"We stayed right where you left us."

She was mad at me, and I didn't blame her. "I'm sorry about leaving you, Mills, but trust me, down there is not somewhere you want to be."

She smoothed a blanket across Raj and didn't answer. His eyes were closed; I hoped sleep dulled his pain a little.

"You should feed our miracle translator and try and get some sleep while we're here. I'm going to go keep watch."

She pulled a blanket around herself and shook her head. "You kept watch last time. Let me do it."

"Thanks, but I can't sleep. Not for a while, I imagine."

Her anger receded a little, replaced by curiosity. "What did you see? Akizuki seemed off, too – quieter and, I don't know, sad." It _had_ been a quiet trip down the hill, and Millie was sensitive to stuff like that, better than I was at reading people.

"Ghosts, like the ones that found you." I resisted the urge to close my eyes as I remembered; the images were still all too clear. "There was a drowned lady on the bridge; she moved like she was still in the water. I-" I turned to dig my jacket out of my pack so Millie wouldn't see my face. "I thought she'd killed Akizuki for a minute. He was out cold. We searched the house we stayed in last night. It's the one with the hell gate, we think. We're pretty sure." I turned back to catch her eyes, trying to explain. "Mills, there's this hallway and a room beyond it totally covered with blood, just a few yards from where we stayed. The other direction there's a prison cell, and we fought some of the things I saw during the night... and just beyond the bloody hallway..."

I was shaking again, insane giggles ringing in my ears. I tucked my arms in tight and sat down, staring at a row of candles, waiting for my voice to come back.

"What do they want, though?" Millie asked, settling in beside me. "Are they just torturing us for kicks and giggles?"

"I don't think so. I think they're just like the ones Vivi handled. I suspect they're all a bit crazy and they want us to close their gate for a while, but I don't know how." I dropped my head into my hands. "No idea. And I have the feeling I'm not going to like it when I find out. We don't have a sacrifice handy."

She laid her head on my shoulder. "Could always use the stranger," she joked.

"Yeah," I laughed, "you get to explain that to everyone when we get home." I looked over at Akizuki; he was asleep against the trunk, journal open in his lap. It had been a long, long morning. "You know," I whispered, "the village isn't far away, and it does seem pretty safe here. The sooner we get out of this place the better. Maybe I should just go now, while everyone's resting..."

Millie's head popped up. "This again? Are you kidding?"

"No, actually, I'm not." I could practically feel the rooms we'd missed opening for me, their secrets calling. Somewhere, within a mile, the knowledge that would get us home was lying in dust, waiting to be found...

"You just have a genuine wish for death."

Apparently Millie couldn't hear the secrets. "There's not a lot of advantage to being in a group out there," I argued softly, "not with only the one weapon. And the longer we stay here, the more dangerous it is. I just want to get us all home."

"I know, it's just... I feel better when you're with someone else."

"I wish we didn't have to split up at all – I worry about you and Raj all the time. We'll just have to make do." Which meant, for her, sitting around being terrified with no defense and Raj to look after. "You really think I should wait?"

"I really do."

She could use a respite. And I still couldn't read Japanese. "Alright, then." I stood up and shrugged into my jacket. "I'm going to go walk the perimeter. If you need anything, scream."

"And kick and knock things down!" she added eagerly.

I smiled – it was an old joke between us, Vivi's instructions from the very first time we'd been left on our own in a public place, and repeated every time thereafter for the next six years. "Good girl. And get some sleep in the mean time. I don't know how long we'll be gone next time. It might be a while."

She stretched out on the ground next to Raj. "Be safe."

"I will. Sweet dreams."


	10. Name, Quest, Favorite Color 5

_Millie_

When I woke up Mercy wasn't in the tree and Akizuki was reading again. Raj was asleep; he probably wouldn't appreciate it if I woke him up to ask how he was feeling. Blah.

I sat up and stretched; Akizuki looked up from his book and smiled. "Good morning." He had a nice smile. I wondered how things were going between him and Mercy. I'd guess pretty well, so far... except they'd both come back from that trip looking a little battered. Akizuki had bruises peeking out from his hairline on either side of his head and down his arms, and Mercy had a big black and blue spot just over her right elbow. I wished Mercy had told me more about what was going on down there. I couldn't tell how much of her silence was for me and how much for her, and that unsettled me. Usually Mercy is an open book, at least for me. I'd have to settle for making sure they were well prepared before I let her wander off again...

I jumped up. "Oh! Mercy told me to feed you! Sorry." I went over to the packs and started digging around, pulling out an apple to munch on while I searched. "Apple, granola bar, jerky? What do you want?"

"Water and jerky, and maybe some almonds or apricots, if that's ok."

"Sure thing! And you can have a sucker for desert, if you want." I still had over half my stash; if we didn't get out pretty soon, they were going to be the only food we had left.

He chuckled and waved me off. "I'm good, thanks."

I tossed him a water bottle and the little bag of apricots. "So, anything good in there?"

"Good? Not really, no. Informative, I suppose. But not the right kind of information, either. Nothing that tells me how to leave."

I wandered over and handed him a few strips of jerky. "What does it tell you?" It was weird to look over his shoulder and see the lines of characters that made no sense. Not knowing what was going on was making me grumpy. So was the darkness and my sister's... whatever it was she was doing. And especially Raj. Grumpy was practically a euphemism for what I was feeling about poor Raj.

Akizuki didn't sound all that cheerful either. "It confirms that there is a hellgate, and a ritual to keep it closed that used twin girls as the shrine maidens and also involved multiple priests and a group referred to as 'mourners', who appear to have been rendered symbolically blind. The butterflies are apparently a by-product of the ceremony, created to function as guardians of the village."

"I knew they weren't normal." Mercy came in through the village-side door, her hair damp with fog and the camera clutched in both hands.

"Mercy!" And she didn't even seem to have any new bruises. I hugged her, glad that that much at least had gone right. "See anything scary out there?"

"Nothing, actually. Made me nervous. Did you have a good nap?"

"Yeah. You're going again, aren't you." It wasn't a question. Akizuki was already standing and repacking his bag. _Yipee. More waiting around in the dark. _Raj had already almost emptied the batteries on the DS; I was going to have to get creative to keep him entertained this time.

"Sorry, munchkin. Take good care of the tough guy, ok? And wish us luck. We'll try to be back soon."

"Don't die," I demanded, and she chuckled.

"I'll do my best. You, too. See you in a bit." She slid her hand over mine, our fingers twining for just a moment in one of our secret hand signals, one of the thousands of little signs we'd built up with each other over the years. This one we'd used mostly when we were getting lectured; it meant 'I love you', and it made me want to cry. Instead I bit my lip and watched them walk out into the mist.

"Where're they going?"

I jumped and spun around to see Raj blinking at me blearily. "You're awake!" I moved back to sit beside him, smoothing the blanket across his shoulders. "They haven't found a way out yet, so they're going to search some more."

He blinked at me some more; it seemed to be a lot of work for him to focus. "And then we can go home?"

"Yeah, baby. Then we can go home. Just a little while longer. Do you want some water? Or something to eat?"

He shook his head. "I'm hungry, but I think if I tried I'd just throw it up."

_Not good, not good, not good._ His pain must be getting worse. He needed Simon, and all he had was me. "Can I rub your head or your feet? Or tell you a story? Or anything?"

Just being awake was making his breath come harder and his face pale. "Talk to me. Please."

"Of course! Anything you want, anything at all." I snuggled down next to him. "Let's talk about what we'll do when we get home. After Simon's through with you you're going to be laid up for a while. I think I should get you a new video game. One where you shoot zombies. Lots of zombies." That actually sounded really satisfying. "And I'll play it with you." What else? More stuff that would help him feel better... "And we can invite Sam and Aero over, and I'll make 7 layer dip and brownies and hotwings. And you can be as fussy as you want. I'll run all your errands for you, and take care of you- I'll even wear a maid outfit if you want. You know, the kind with the short skirt and ruffly apron? But not in front of Mom and Dad. They wouldn't take it well."

He actually managed a wheezy laugh. "Thanks, Mills."

"Whatever you want. And you know what? That goes for right now, too. You are not laying in a cave in a ghost infested little village with eternal night. You are laying on a beach. The waves are crashing just beyond your toes. Can you hear them? The sun is warm on your face, but there's a little breeze, and a cold drink by your hand. You want to go to sleep, but you also want to keep your eyes open, because I'm wearing a bikini. A skimpy one. And in a minute I'm going to need more sunscreen. The air smells like salt, and coconut, and you have sand between your toes. Can you feel it?"

"Oh, I can feel it." He wiggled one arm out from under the blanket and ran a hand over my head. "Your hair smells like pumpkin."

"Good. Then you smell that, too." He closed his eyes again, and I hoped he really could see it, that he could imagine himself out of this dungeon to someplace nice. "So, what should we do tonight?" I asked him softly. "Go clubbing? Or stay in and cuddle on the couch and watch movies? Or maybe a midnight swim? Walk on the beach?"

"Mmm. Eat. A lot. I don't care what kind of food."

My stomach had definite ideas on that point. "Oh, pasketti! And fruit. And maybe a smoothie. And... and... enchiladas. The kind all smothered in cheese and sour cream. A night in, then. We can play Uno!"

"And spoons. Andrea loves spoons."

And he loved seeing his little niece get all excited about it. "Perfect. Sounds perfect. You know, I think we really should."

"I think I should sleep. But first you should tell me a story."

"Of course." I propped myself back up on an elbow and started running fingers through his short, soft hair. "What story do you want to hear?"

"Read any good books recently?"

I thought about it. "Actually, yes. Hmm. Okay." The story sorted itself back out in my mind, forming a glimmering golden pathway out of our hole in the ground and into the great free sky. "Not so very far in the future..."


	11. Everything Falls Apart 1

_Mercy_

"Alright," I said, gathering my courage. "Let's try this one more time."

"At least we've already searched the front of the house." Akizuki pushed the doors to the dollhouse open and waved me inside. I brushed lightly against him as I passed, grateful for his living presence.

We passed through the first few rooms; nothing had altered, and nothing jumped out at us. Akizuki had already finished with the dollmaker's workshop, so we passed it and the altar room by, turning left as the hallway branched.

"Stairs," I said as the passage ended. "Let's do the first floor before we go up."

"Sounds good to me. Back around the corner, then." The floors in this area of the house seemed less solid than the ones where we came in; we retraced our steps carefully.

The next room in the house was large, two stories tall, and virtually empty. A broken grandfather clock, hands eternally stopped at 9 o'clock, stood against one wall, and a tumbled down staircase wrapped the other three, its railings broken and sagging and its treads splintered and bowed. Akizuki eyed it suspiciously. "Well, we won't be going up that way."

"I don't think that staircase would hold a rabbit," I agreed. "There must be-"

A long, wailing scream pierced the hall, raising every hair on my body and making me jump a foot in the air. I looked up just in time to see a flutter of red cloth falling towards us from the second floor, and then Akizuki grabbed my shoulders and hauled me backward out of range of...

_Thump._

"Oh my..." I breathed softly, staring at the thing on the floor at my feet.

It was a woman, or had been seconds ago. Her body was broken from the fall, her arms and legs twisted at odd angles beneath her and her head tipped back, spilling dark hair in a puddle around her head and aiming her glassy, empty stare directly at me. I was hyperventilating.

"Don't-" Akizuki started, and then cut off abruptly as the mangled body in front of us twitched.

I screamed this time, backing up as the thing raised itself up on all four crumpled limbs and scuttled toward us, shrieking, eyes still empty and a maniacal smile on her face. I was so panicked I almost dropped the camera. Her teeth closed on my pants before my fumbling fingers found the shutter release and her shattered frame bubbled up and evaporated in bursts of light.

"Holy-" Akizuki panted behind me, his fingers like shackles around my shoulders. "Mercedes, are you alright?"

My eyes were still locked on the spot where the woman had lain. My throat was like the Sahara and my voice may as well have never existed.

"Mercy? Mercy, are you ok?"

He came around to stand in front of me, shifting his grip to keep hold of my shoulders. His body broke my view of the floor. He freed one hand and used it to push the camera gently down, away from my neck, and tilt my chin up. His face was tight with concern. "Are you alright? Did she touch you?"

I swallowed and shook my head as my knees gave out. He eased me down to the floor and ran his hands over my arms until I stopped gulping and shaking, which couldn't have taken more than twenty seconds but felt like half an hour. I groped for my voice a few times and came up empty, but eventually I managed to find at least a shadow of it. "Sorry. I'll only need another second, I swear."

"Don't apologize, please. I'd be in shock right now if you weren't doing it for me; it's your turn for that, too, you know. Some things we have to trade off on. Take all the time you need."

I spent another minute on the floor, taking deep breaths while Akizuki's warm hands rubbed life back into my back and arms. When my heartbeat was no longer ringing in my ears I pushed myself off the dusty floorboards and he helped me stand. "Alright," I said. "Let's keep moving. I need to get my sister home."

"You're sure you're ready? Do you want me to take the camera for a while?"

"Oh, no you don't. It's my turn still, no one's going to accuse me of shirking." He smiled but raised an eyebrow, his expression asking again. "Truly," I assured him, "it's fine. I'm fine. That-" I motioned to the stairway, at a loss for adjectives, "just caught me off guard and I overreacted."

"I'm not sure that's possible," he demurred. "And even if it is, a moment or two being shaken does not qualify. Tell me if you change your mind about the camera. I don't hold our spontaneous invention as a contract inviolable, and you still look a little pale."

"Thanks."

The next room, down a long dingy hallway and through a door on the left, opened up into a completely different space.

"Another room that's almost liveable. And not just liveable but adorable. Someone really loved the little girls that lived here." And it had been little girls; everything, from the half-sized kimonos on stands to the miniature dressing tables with covered mirrors to the intricately detailed chests of drawers was paired, and it was all beautiful. Butterflies were everywhere: on decorative folding screens against the walls, the spines of books in their shelves, even on the toys and the drawers. "This was their room, wasn't it? The dollmaker's twins."

"I imagine it was." He ran the beam of his flashlight along the bookcase. "Most of these are too faded to read, and the ones that aren't don't look useful. I believe the girls would have been too young to be entrusted with very detailed information, either."

"You're probably right. We should keep going." Millie and I had shared a room our entire childhood. What would that room have been like if she'd died at 8 or 9? This beautiful little room was a tragedy. I trailed fingertips over another clock that had stopped striking 9 and said a little prayer of gratitude for my sisters and for all the family members who'd kept us well and safe through the household's adventures.

We left through a door across the room from the one we'd entered by, emerging into yet another dingy corridor, this one with holes visible in the board floors. "Right or left?"

"Right to left, front to back, right?"

I cocked an eyebrow at him over my shoulder. "If you say so." He laughed.

The hallway turned back towards the front of the house before it ended in two doors. The front to back rule put us in a room with an ancient projector and a double handful of even more ancient books, none of which had any bearing on our current situation. The room beyond was equally useless, just another set of stairs.

"That's the third staircase. How many do you need in a house this size?"

"Main stairs, back stairs, servant's stairs... that should cover it. In a house this size."

"I can't really tell if you're joking. If you are you have the best poker face ever, and if not, we should talk architecture. My brother-in-law is- wow. Check this out." The second door off the hallway from the twin's room opened on a doll room, like the one at the last house only much larger and more elaborate. The tiered shelves were lined with exquisite dolls, all female, that practically glittered against the dark red fabric draping their stands. I took a step forward, trying to take in the details without letting down my guard-

The camera was in my hands and flashing before I realized that the human shaped shadows at the back of the room weren't moving. "Wow. I think this place is getting to me." Not that the two dolls standing at the end of the room weren't creepy enough to justify a little caution. The one who still had her head was roughly four feet tall and had long dark hair obscuring her face. The other was dressed in an identical navy kimono but was missing not only head but both her arms. The effect, while no where close to the worst thing I'd seen, was nevertheless disconcerting.

"Better safe than sorry is our operating protocol, I believe. And you certainly don't want to take chances with person sized dolls in a house known to have contained at least one possessed one."

"True. Do you think these are backups or something?"

"I don't know." He examined them, lifting one silken kimono sleeve. "They appear to be the appropriate size. Assuming, of course, that that one had a head."

"It probably had arms at some point, too; I wonder what happened to them. Not enough to hope we find them, though," I added to the universe at large. Not that it would be listening.

We searched the doll room, cautiously, and found nothing of use. Akizuki was right. The dolls were beautiful, but I was never going to own another one. Ever.

"One last side of the hallway and then we can go upstairs and then we can get out of this house." No closer to getting out of the village, though. At least the family would be missing us soon. It had been about 36 hours since Rajan fell from the cliff; we were already half a day overdue back from climbing. I was feeling every minute of running, hiding, and seesawing adrenaline in that last day and a half, too, and the full day of climbing that had come before it. I still didn't dare close my eyes in the eternal midnight that surrounded us; the crazy girl's laughter was there every time my tired brain started to wander. Millie was probably right, it was good to have someone to watch my back, even if I'd chafed a little under the delays.

_That wasn't there last time_.

There was another doll, standing in the corner of the hallway. But I'd looked down there, when we'd decided to go the other way first, and... Damn. She was moving.

"Stay back," I warned Akizuki as the figure advanced. She was slow; I had to resist the urge to click the shutter button madly. "Close is better, right?"

"More effective, yes. Be careful."

She was still two yards away when I couldn't take it any more. Not close, but should be close enough...

The camera did nothing. The flash washed over the advancing girl with less impact than a stiff breeze. _Not again! _ But she didn't feel strong like the other one had. I took two quick steps back and looked over my shoulder for Akizuki. "It's not- move!"

A second figure was advancing from the other end of the hall, heading for him.

He responded instantly, ducking into the little nook by the twin's door. I ran that way, too, aiming the camera at the second figure and praying. I just needed a little time. If we could get some distance I might be able to hide us again, it might have been long enough. If we could at least get out of the hall...

I hit the shutter button and the girl in front of me screamed and stumbled back, fading into the wall.

"That one w-"

Intense pain shot through my left leg and my vision distorted, colors changing erratically and lines dissolving into wavy mush. My skin was frozen, my insides on fire, something was moving _under my skin_-

And then reality firmed up again and I woozily watched Akizuki grabbing the ghost girl by the shoulders and hurling her repeatedly at the wall.

At the third hit she melted through his fingers, joining her double somewhere... I knew they weren't gone. Children's voices echoed down the hall, repeating something over and over in Japanese, the echoes improbable for the space and obscuring all sense of direction. Wordlessly Akizuki and I formed up, back to back in the hallway, our eyes scanning every surface from ceiling to floor.

"I've always wanted to punch one of these things," he panted.

"You can do it again, if the camera doesn't work. Let me try it first, though."

"My two o'clock!"

She was faster this time, oozing out of the wall and giggling. I tried the camera: nothing.

Akizuki was there on the heels of the flash, with a mean looking left hook that was perfectly aimed. While he was punching a second girl appeared to his left, but she faded back as I tried to take the picture.

"She's hiding," I gasped, pivoting on my right leg to get back to our guard position. My left leg was still burning. "I need one clear shot."

"It'll come. Hold on."

Something grabbed at my weak leg and I kicked, lashing out as the world went discordant again. I heard Akizuki curse and something thud and I was on the floor, snapping a picture the second my vision cleared- a photo with a little girl, maybe 8, in a midnight blue kimono, rising out of a warped board floor and reaching for me.

The child screamed and exploded in a fountain of light, and so did the one sprawled at Akizuki's feet. We both held perfectly still for a moment, panting, not quite ready to believe that it was really over. But nothing more slid out of the walls and after a few seconds of silence Akizuki came over and extended a hand to help me to my feet.

"Thank you," I said, taking it and pushing myself off the floor. "Are you o- ow!" My abused leg folded and I tumbled gracelessly back to the ground. "Oooh." I hissed and straightened my leg, wiggling my toes to make sure I still could.

"Anything broken?" Akizuki asked, squatting down beside me.

"No, just a little sore. It'll be alright in a minute." I leaned back against the wall. "You ok?"

He nodded and stood again, fishing a water bottle from his pack and taking a drink.

"That wasn't the twins, was it? It was the girl and the doll, the replacement twin." He handed me the bottle and I took a drink, bent my knee experimentally.

"That was freaky is what that was," he said as I handed back the bottle.

"Oh, yes. Nice trick, though, with the fisticuffs. Not sure I would have thought of that."

He shrugged. "It seemed logical. If it wasn't a ghost, it was the doll, and if it was the doll, it would be subject to physical interaction. Didn't expect it to be able to do that with the wall, though. That was a nasty surprise."

"Tell me about it. Um, give me a hand up?"

He did, and I took it slower this time, easing my way up against the wall. I made it vertical that way, and took a few experimental steps. Akizuki kept a hand on my elbow, just in case my leg refused to hold, but I managed.

"You ok?" he asked.

"I'll be fine. Just have to walk it off." I stretched it a little, gauging the ache. It hurt, but it would function. "Thanks for saving my life, by the way. I appreciate it."

He smiled. "Anytime. Ready to get out of here?"

"Oh, yes! Let's go, before anything else shows up. Ooops, I can't believe I just said that out loud." I slapped a hand across my mouth, too late.

He grinned. "You've jinxed us for sure. Come on."


	12. Everything Falls Apart 2

_Mercy_

Despite my slip of the tongue nothing attacked us on the stairs or leapt from corners in any of the upstairs rooms. Of course we didn't find anything useful there, either.

"I think we've done what we can do," Akizuki said as we reached the head of the third staircase. "Time to move on to the next house. There's a walkway connecting this one with the one next door; we should be right by it, I think."

I'd been dragging behind, trying to disguise my lingering limp. I was also failing miserably, but so far Akizuki had been too polite to mention it. He opened the door beside him, the last one on the floor we hadn't been through, and peered cautiously through it. Lantern light fell through the opening.

"Just like you said," I noted, hobbling up beside him. "Looks solid, too." Rare as it was for this forgotten village, the timbers of the walkway hadn't deteriorated at all. They would bear us over the street and onto the second level of the house next door. We could search that one from top to bottom, and only have one house left. There _was_ a way out of this village, and the farther we came with nothing, the greater the chance of the next house revealing the secret. We were due.

I prayed again as I limped across the bridge.

Akizuki tried the door handle while I waited, camera ready. We were getting this whole searching thing down to an art. Except, of course, in cases like this, when the door didn't open. Expansive as it was, Akizuki's growing collection of keys couldn't help, either. I thought about the stairs and the doll in the hallway and the woman by the clock...

"You know," I suggested casually, "I did remember the ax this time."

He looked at me and I could almost see the memories playing in his eyes as well. He raised an eyebrow at the lock. "Maybe just this once..."

I grinned and handed him the ax.

The splintering sound as the door gave was enormously satisfying. From Akizuki's laugh I gathered that I wasn't the only one who thought so. "See," I teased as I stowed the ax back in my pack, "that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Certainly faster. Let's go."

An empty tatami room, followed by a second and then a third. Two of the rooms had closets, but there was nothing in them we could use. My leg hurt, and the floorboards were starting to swim a little in my vision. Nothing serious, but without more adrenaline soon... _careful what you wish for, Mercy. You'll get it._ Here of all places, nothing was going to be quiet for long. I raised the camera again and limped ahead of Akizuki into the next room.

An empty tatami room.

"Drat," I whispered, leaning against a wall.

"At least they're easy to search. You still doing alright?"

I pulled myself together. "Yeah, fine. You?"

"Improving all the time. Having company is quite heartening."

He smiled at me and I did find myself rather heartened, at least enough that the patterns in the floorboards stayed put and the shadows stopped crowding me. "Well, come on, then. Empty rooms await!"

They did. Two rooms with downward leading staircases and yet another tatami room, all empty. One locked door as well; I was ready with the ax again, but Akizuki waved me off. "Let's finish this floor, at least. We might find a key." I assented silently and turned a corner instead. One lone door remained. My hand was poised to slide it open when I heard something.

I looked up to find Akizuki's face grim in the flickering light. He'd heard it, too. A soft tinkling, a muffled little bell. It was coming from the closet.

I pushed back, forcing Akizuki into the open space around the stairwell. Hallways were nasty places to fight; that wasn't a lesson we needed to relearn. He dropped back and gave me as much room as he could, his eyes, like mine, searching for the source of the bell.

The door in the hallway flew open, revealing a gaping darkness I could barely see. I raised the camera, all my senses alert to the point of pain, as the echoing of a little girl's sobs surrounded us.

Something clutched at my jacket.

I backed and spun, catching a glimpse of a little girl in a beautiful red kimono. Younger than the last ones, with short black hair and a pleading face. She didn't look harmful, she looked lost. That didn't stop me from hitting the shutter release.

The flash washed across the stairwell, but no explosion of lights followed, and the crying continued unabated. The eternal candle, however, seemed to have gone out. I blinked in the pitch darkness, waiting for my eyes to adjust. There might still be light from down the hall-

"Mercy, behind you!"

I turned again and hit the shutter release, trusting my partner. I could hear the bell, but I saw neither the child nor the flash...

Nor the flashlights. A chill swept me from head to foot. "Is the candle lit?"

"What?"

"Is the candle lit?"

"Yes!"

The sound of the bell was moving, but it was hard to pinpoint it through the ghost child's echoing sobs. "Do you see her?"

"S-she's right in front of you. 12 feet and closing slowly."

I raised the camera again. "Tell me when."

"Angle down a little more, and about ten degrees to your left. Listen for the bell."

I focused all my attention on my ears, zeroing in.

"Now!"

I clicked the shutter release. A wail went up, right at my toes, and with it the clang of a bell hitting the wooden floor. Footsteps came toward me through the silence.

"Mercedes?" Akizuki's voice was soft, and coming from somewhere just behind my right shoulder. "I'm coming up behind you. Don't be afraid. Are you alright?"

I blinked a few times – was it my imagination, or was that a hazy light growing in my field of view? "I'm fine, mostly. We may have a problem, though."

"You still can't see."

"Not quite yet. I think it may be coming back, though." It was hard to tell in the deep shadows of the house. I blinked again, willing my vision to return.

"Let me see." Akizuki turned me gently and lifted my chin with his hand. The splotches of gray in front of my eyes swam and warmed a little. Careful fingers pinned my left eyelid first, and then my right. "You seem to be taking this well," he noted dryly.

"My aunt went blind as a child," I told him. "She's managed to do just fine anyway. Of course, the timing isn't great..."

He released me, grunting assent. "I don't see anything in your eyes; they look fine. Your pupils even react to the flashlight. You can't see at all?"

"Actually... I think it's getting better." Splotches were definitely gaining color; I could see a moving blur right where Akizuki's head must be.

"Good! We'll give you a minute, then, before we decide whether to go back or go on." The blur bobbed abruptly away, brightness taking its place. "She dropped something." Metal scraped against wood. "A key."

"Any idea where it goes?"

"Maybe to our locked door right here. I'm going to check the closet out, though, before we go on. Come with me." His arm slid under my left elbow and he led me slowly forward. The bright blur in my field of vision warmed and sharpened.

"Put your right hand out and you'll be able to touch the wall. I'm going to let go for just a second to search. Is that alright?"

"Of course. Don't worry about me." The center of the bright spot must be the candle. If I squinted, I could see the black line of its stand, the way its yellow heart danced as the breeze of my words fluttered it. As I watched it, it further distinguished itself from the walls. My eyes were watering, but they were almost working again. I closed them, wiping them dry and massaging my eyelids for just a moment. When I opened them again Akizuki was back, and I could see him.

"You have a face!"

"Glad to hear it. Congratulations. Are you comfortable going on?"

"Ready when you are. Thanks for waiting." I couldn't think of any non-awkward way to tell him that I considered his face a reward, was at least half convinced my eyes had recovered out of sheer desire to see it again, so I didn't say so. "Did you find anything in the closet?"

"Another journal. The girl's brothers seem to have been twins involved in what went wrong here. I'll look for the full story when we get back to the shrine." He looked at the camera hanging on its strap around my neck and shook his head. He didn't even ask.

"Let's go, then," I smiled, and led the way back across the stairwell room to the locked door.

Maybe it was just my eyes, but this room seemed darker than the others we'd been in, and after all the emptiness we'd seen it felt crowded. There were pillows on the floor, hunkering shapes of furniture in the corners, and candles on the shelves against the far wall that somehow served only to emphasize the black, twisting shadows around them. I let the beam of my light play slowly around the room, searching for...

I stifled a squeak and backed up, running into Akizuki.

"Are you ok?" he asked, setting a hand on my shoulder.

I blinked hard at the empty space in my flashlight beam. It stayed empty. "Um, yeah, maybe? Apparently I'm just starting to hallucinate, is all." My nervous laugh sounded very peculiar in the absolute stillness of the house. I stopped it quickly.

"What did you see?" Akizuki wasn't laughing, but he didn't sound worried that I was cracking up, either.

"I... I thought I saw a white haired boy, standing beside that table and smiling at me, but when I blinked the image was gone." Akizuki looked over at me, then walked towards the table. I shone my flashlight beam over the wall, just in case it had been less my imagination than I hoped. I caught my breath and snatched at the camera as a human shape loomed out of the shadows in the corner.

The camera flash lit the corner of the room like a sheet of lightening, but nothing erupted in sparks, or even moved, besides Akizuki. He took a few steps back and then, as our eyes recovered and the room maintained its stillness, moved towards the thing that had startled me.

"It's a mummy," he said, looking it over but keeping out of arm's reach. Mentally I applauded his caution.

"What's it doing here?" I didn't know much about mummies, but I didn't think we were in the right climate to make one, and we hadn't seen any others. It didn't seem like a good sign. At all.

"I don't know, but as long as it stays there to do it, I vote we get on with the search." He shivered a little. "We'll search him last."

I kept an eye on the mummy, to make sure it stayed put, while Aki went back to the table.

"Papers here. A journal." He began scanning pages quickly. "It's from one of the brothers, the twins. He writes about preparing for the ritual..." A long silence, a dozen pages. I focused on watching the mummy without looking at it too closely. "He wanted to get them out. The next set of twins. He didn't want them to go through what he and his brother had. Mercedes, this is it. For certain, this time. This is the way out of the village."

_The way out. We found it. We can go home... _Tears of relief pricked my eyes; I wiped them away and did a quick sweep of the room with the camera. That would be all we needed, to get killed by a ghost because relief made me careless. "What do we have to do?"

"It mentions a passageway under the Kureha shrine, and some sort of seal that unlocks it, in the old tree. There are keys... maybe four? Family crests, passed down through the four priestly families, at any rate. If we can find the seal in the tree we can check. They should open the seal and let us out."

"What do the keys look like, does it say?"

"No, aside from calling them pinwheel keys. But he does say he found his family's..." Aki began shuffling through the papers on the desk. "Ah-hah!" I turned to see him holding up a small round stone. "Pinwheel. This is it, I bet." He turned it so I could see the pinwheel painted on the gray face in green and red.

It was small, but not so small that we would have missed it when we searched the last two houses. Probably. "Where are the others?"

"Not sure. They seem not to have kept them in the houses; the journal says this one was at the storehouse, and we've now searched the homes of two other priests' families without coming across one. My guess would be hidden around the village."

"That's going to be a pain."

"Probably. But at least we have somewhere to start. And who knows, maybe we'll be able to use that ax of yours as a lock pick on the escape route itself." He shoved the journal and the key into his pack. "I'm going to have a quick look around the rest of this room, just in case, and then-"

Laughter. A woman's insane, ringing, bone-chilling laughter.

We both darted for the door, all thoughts of further search forgotten. If she was here, then she wasn't bound to her room any more, and we had to get out, out, out, as far and as fast as we could. I didn't even bother to raise the camera. Our only hope was to run.

Except that was something I really couldn't do just now. I was already behind as we broke into the corridor. The laughter was louder here, and so was the sense of her presence. It batted at me, threatening to bowl me over even without the help of my weak and dragging leg. As Akizuki turned for the stairs I glanced the other way, towards the source of the sound.

She was right there, at the other end of the hall. Only yards away.

I hurled myself after Akizuki, panic demanding I ignore my pain and run like a frightened bunny. My leg, though, refused to comply. Just shy of the first step of the staircase it folded and sent me tumbling to the ground. Akizuki, already down to the first landing, turned and looked back.

"Go," I told him, raising the camera. "I'll stall her and then throw you the camera when you get to the bottom. I'll catch up." I scrambled backward, easing myself over the first step and aiming the view-finder as the crazy girl came around the corner.

Something snatched me into the air.

I clicked the shutter button, mostly out of habit, and looked down to find myself slung across Akizuki's shoulder. He was leaping down the rotting steps two at a time; I could see almost nothing but the ground flying away beneath his feet. I propped myself up with a hand on his shoulder and aimed the camera again.

She was standing at the head of the stairs.

I got off one more shot, which didn't seem to bother her at all, before the twisting of the staircase obscured my line of sight. Akizuki didn't even slow as we hit the bottom of the stairs. I caught a glimpse of a grandfather clock and a foot on the stairway before he whisked me out of the stair room and through a long hallway. We dodged across another tatami room and into a corridor that looked familiar: like the one in the dollmaker's house. Akizuki charged along it, ignoring side rooms, the crazy laughter growing distant but not stopping. The hallway dumped us into a fireplace room, again just like the dollmaker's. That meant... I craned my neck to see forward, and there they were. Doors. Akizuki threw his weight against them...

They didn't open.

He yanked again, with all his might, but they didn't budge. He set me down and tried once more, with the same effect. The laughter was getting closer again.

"Ax," he panted, holding out his hand. I hauled it from my pack, tearing off the cover with trembling hands and passing the weapon into his steady, waiting ones.

Five solid hits, splinters flying, and the reluctant doors let us out under the night sky. The echoing giggle transformed into a shriek as Akizuki ducked and scooped me up again, with only one arm, tossing me a little until I was secure over his shoulder, the ax still clutched in his other hand. He ran, that wailing cry chasing us through the dark streets, not bothering with flashlights or stealth or anything superfluous like that, and not toward the dollmaker's house, but the other way, toward the dry well and up the hill the long way, where we'd first come into town.

_He's protecting Millie and Raj. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We can't lead her back to them..._

But as we climbed the hill, shedding the valley's clinging mist, the sound faded as well. By the time we reached our old camp and Akizuki lowered me gently to my own feet the silence was so profound it was hard to believe it had ever been broken.

I kept watch anyway, camera gradually steadying in my fingers as my heart rate calmed. My rescuer stood behind me, bracing me, his chest rising and falling against my back with every breath, the ax still clenched in his grip.

Time stretched. I glanced at my watch in the weak, unsteady light of the braziers, clocked five minutes, then ten. No motion in the darkness, no sound.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"For what?" he asked, moving the ax so that it no longer looked like I had a deadly extra appendage. I heard a rustle as he laid it somewhere and his hand, now free, returned to the warm spot above my hip where it had been resting.

"Saving my life. Protecting my friends." I turned to face him, searching for his eyes in the dark. "If it doesn't work next time, if something goes wrong, promise me you'll get them out of here?"

I could hear his frown better than I could see it. "We're all going to leave together."

"I know. Promise me anyway." He stared at me and said nothing, his hands still firm on my sides, his face shadowed. "She's my sister," I reminded him. "My little sister."

He sighed. "I promise."

"Thank you." I let the camera fall to my chest and grasped his arms instead.

We stood like that a minute more before he stepped back, reaching for the ax handle balanced against his calf. "We can stow this now, I suppose. How is your leg? Can you walk?"

"Walk? Sure. Run? Not so much." I took the ax from him and repacked it, leaving it where I could reach it quickly. "Do you think it's safe to go back to Millie and Raj now?"

"Safe as it ever is. They deserve to hear the good news, in any event."

"And we have to find the seal. The Kureha shrine after that? Do you know where that is?"

"I think so. Remember the place where the path split, going from the tree into the village, and we crossed over the river? If you take the other turning it leads to a shrine that is likely Kureha. We'll examine it." He kept one hand under my elbow and led me down the far side of the hill, the way we'd brought Raj.

"I forgot to ask you what you found in the books during our last rest break," I noted as I limped beside him. "Anything important?"

"Details, mostly. The books we found in the upstairs study and in the cell let me piece together what happened here." I looked up in interest and he nodded, acknowledging my unspoken request. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm having some trouble with the timeline. The last ritual that worked would have been the one using the dollmaker's twins. But it didn't hold as long as it should have, maybe because the girls were so young or maybe because the possessed doll weakened the seal. Either circumstance could be expected to have that effect. Both..." He shrugged. "The dollmaker and the remaining daughter both disappear from the records about three years later. Like they never existed. I have some guesses about what happened to them, but I can't confirm.

"The next oldest set of twins were boys. Not ideal, but feasible. Altar boys had been used before. They waited as long as they could, until the boys turned 15, and then tried again. But that ritual failed to quiet the abyss, produced no butterfly." Akizuki grimaced. "The ceremony master's notes speculate that it was an unwillingness on the part of one of the boys to preform the sacrifice that sabotaged it.

"The only remaining twins anywhere close to the right age were the ceremony master's own daughters. But the girls didn't want to do the ritual either, apparently. They tried to escape; the boy who lived in that last house, the remaining twin from the last sacrifice, was trying to smuggle them out of the village. Only one girl made it."

"I remember, back at the house, you read from his diary. At least he tried. What happened to the other girl?"

"She was the younger, the one intended to be sacrificed. Her sister was supposed to strangle her, and then attendants whose eyes had been sewn shut would drop her body into the abyss. That wasn't an option, so they decided to have her strangle herself, see if that worked. They were out of time; they'd already sacrificed a stranger. We saw part of that, I believe, when we searched that house." I stumbled and he frowned. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just a loose rock." A loose rock and the loss of feeling in most of my body. Hearing this was driving home the amount of danger that Millie was really in. I picked up my pace a little. "What happened?"

"She hung herself, and they threw her in. The pit threw her back."

"The laughing girl," I realized. "She was the one who didn't get away."

He nodded. "Her name was Sae."

Sae. This place's Kirie. Viv had managed to close her gate and escape triumphant; I'd be lucky to get us all out alive. Unless the family sent Uncle Rezza or Aunt Ninaei after us. They might be able to do something. But the chances of anyone reaching us here were slim. Escape was really the best I could hope for. _I'm sorry. I'm sorry, all of you. But I don't know how to let you go, and you can't have my sister. _That point was non-negotiable. Nobody was going to strangle Millie.


	13. Everything Falls Apart 3

_Millie_

"Millie! Millie!"

I was listening so hard for sounds of Mercy and Aki coming back that when I heard my own name I thought I was hallucinating. The opening that led to the village was empty; only a scattering of raindrops tumbled in. Then I saw a flash of light from the other side, and the tail of Mercy's long, dark braid dropping through the opening in the roots. I jumped up and ran to the hole.

"Millie! Guess what?" She was smiling, her whole face shining in the flashlight beam.

"What?"

"We found a way out! It's going to take some work and we still have to search around a bit, but we found a way."

"Great!" Finally. Light at the end of the tunnel. Very literally. Did Alice have a flashlight when she went down the rabbit hole? And if she did, did that make me the rabbit? "I don't suppose there's anything we can do?"

"Not just yet. Soon. We're going to go check out another spot, it shouldn't take long, and then we'll be back for a breather. Just stay here. See you in a little bit!"

And then she was gone.

"Mercy, wait!" I hissed. "Mercy?"

No answer.

"Fluffy pink fish slippers," I muttered, clambering up through the roots. Down was a much easier direction, and my muscles were sore and stiff from sitting in the cold so long. It took me longer than it should have. I didn't dare yell for her, either; just because ghosts didn't wander here on their own didn't mean I couldn't call them here. By the time I poked my head out there was nothing to distinguish one patch of swirling mist from another.

"Mercy!" I whispered. Not so much as a cricket chirped in reply.

Now what?

Not long, she said. But Mercy's 'not long's were getting longer and longer, and while she was out finding the light our situation was getting worse and worse. Raj's leg was bad enough, and then the ghosts, and now...

And now Raj was running a fever, how high I couldn't tell but high enough that he wasn't making sense. His leg was swelling again, and hotter than the rest of him, and his skin was turning a very unnatural color. We were low on food, and nearly out of water. Mercy's way out was fantastic news, the best I'd heard since Raj fell, but I was worried it hadn't come fast enough.

I'd expected to send Mercy for water, maybe have her take a look at Raj. I'd already given him medicine and spread antiseptic on his cut, but maybe there was something more... she didn't usually run off without letting me have my say. That was a me sort of thing to do, get on a roll... but she was gone, and I was right back where I started.

The river wasn't far. We had water purification tablets in the med kit; I could be back in twenty minutes. Assuming I didn't meet any ghosts and die along the way. Mercy would kill me, but only if she found out. And it wasn't like she'd left me any other options, either. I thought of spending another hour twiddling my thumbs while Raj got sicker and sicker. No. No way. The least I could do was get him a drink.

I dropped back through the roots and into our burrow. At least I could leave him somewhere safe. I unzipped my jacket and stuffed empty water bottles in it, got my flashlight, unwrapped a fresh lollipop. I thought about taking my iPod, but that would probably be bad. I should be able to hear ghosts coming. And maybe their hearing was like dogs or something, and the tiny vibrations from my headphones would be like megaphones... anyways, I wouldn't be gone long. I didn't dare leave Raj a split second longer than I absolutely had to.

"Hey, baby?" I knelt down beside him, brushing his hair back and stroking his cheek. His eyes fluttered a little; he might be looking at me from underneath those gorgeous lashes. "Did you hear that? Did you hear Mercy? They found a way out! They just have to go... find... something," she never did tell me what it was they were searching for, "and then we'll be out of here. I'm gonna take you home."

He muttered something incoherent and groaned, tossing on the stretcher.

"I know, sweetie, I know. And I'm going to do what I can. But I'm going to have to leave, just for a little while, just a minute. Only a minute. I'll be right back, ok?"

"Millie? Wher' goin'?"

It was weak and it was slurred, but I didn't care. "Hey! Hey, welcome back! I'm going to get some water, ok? Gonna bring you back a drink. Mercy found a way out, we're gonna get you home."

"Out?"

"Yeah, out. Don't worry about it. You leave it to me, ok? You just sleep. I'll be back soon. I love you so much!"

He swiped at me, grabbed my arm. "Don't go."

I had to go. But maybe I didn't have to instantly. After all, the whole point was to make Raj more comfortable, right? It wouldn't make any sense to go and leave him upset behind me.

I managed to get a few swallows of precious water down him and then I knelt beside the stretcher and started describing one of my favorite memories we had together, the April Fool's prank we'd pulled on Aero the year we were 14. When his hand went limp in mine I picked up my flashlight and slipped out of the tree.

_Ok, so we crossed the river when we came here, and we came on this path. So if I follow the path, I'll get to the river._ Viv and Merc teased me all the time for having inherited Dad's wanderlust and Mom's sense of direction, but it wasn't quite that bad. I could at least find my way to the bathroom and back to my table at a restaurant without an escort, unlike Mama, and Raj had trained me to read a map. But I'd looked at our map, during one of Mercy's runs to the village, and I could no longer find any trace of Minakami on ours. Not a hint. The map wasn't going to help me.

Down to the river and back along one path, though, I should be able to manage, even in the fog. I set out confidently, trying to be aware of the dark without really noticing it.

Not a minute into my walk the path branched.

_What now?_ I didn't remember any forks in the path on our way here, and honestly all the tree lined dirt trails looked identical. If I'd been able to see even an arm's length in front of my face... but that was not an option. And I didn't have time to waste. I just had to pick a direction and go with it. I just wouldn't walk too far. It wasn't like I couldn't turn around...

Just as I was getting ready to head right, one of those big, glowy butterflies passed by. It circled my head once, little curls of mist twisting around its wings, and then flapped over to land on some grass a few feet up on the left hand fork of the path. It sat there a second, and then flew back towards me, and then back again to the left, and I remembered that the river should be to the left, after all.

"The butterflies are helping me. Thank you, Mr. Butterfly!"

The butterfly led me all the way to the bridge, and nothing tried to eat me along the way. It was like he was a guardian angel. That was good, 'cause I needed one. If one of those ghosts showed up again, I had absolutely no idea what I would do. For now, though, I didn't have to decide. I thanked the butterfly again and picked my way down the bank to the water.

I slid a little, and a few rocks plunked down to make circles on the surface as I made it to the edge. If I tried to lean over and still hold onto my flashlight, I was going to fall in. Reluctantly I turned it off and stuffed it in a pocket; I knew better than to try to prop it on the bank. I'd lose it for good that way. "I hope the water isn't deep," I muttered, and pulled the first water bottle from my jacket. The butterfly drifted down to sit on a shrub while I filled it.

By the time I was done, there were six butterflies perched at various spots around me. I wasn't sure if that should make me feel safe or nervous. Either way, it was time I got back to Raj.

The bank looked steeper from the water's edge than it had from the path. I pulled my flashlight back out and let it dance along the earth in front of me, searching out a way to get back to the trail without breaking my ankle and spilling all my water back into the river. _Jack and Jill went down the hill..._ There. If I angled away from the bridge, there was a route between the shrubs and the low hanging trees. I could brace myself with branches and be back on the road, easy as pie.

I had one foot back on the path when pie got complicated. One of the low shrubs caught on my pants. It stabbed into my shin and tripped me, sending me sprawling and my flashlight skittering across the road. It landed a few feet away, beam aimed straight at my eyes, and when I groped for it two of my water bottles slid free and went rolling in opposite directions. I gathered them up as silently as I could, praying that nothing nasty would come along. Nothing did. There were still only butterflies visible in the fog when I finally had myself back together. Gratefully, I turned to go home.

Two identical stretches of dark, misty road led away from me.

I turned in place a couple times, panic rising in my throat, not sure whether to break out Cain's favorite curses or to cry. Neither would be helpful. Instead a took a deep breath and tried to think of a plan.

_Ok. Where does the road go? _I was still panicked; I couldn't quite remember which dark stretch of deserted road I'd hauled a stretcher along when. I was sure that no matter which way I went I would end up either in the village, on the hill, or at the tree. All those places were connected. I'd make it back to Raj eventually. I just had to pick one, and turn around if I got it wrong.

I looked at the butterflies.

All the butterflies were on one side of me. I picked that side, and started walking. Beautiful red wings flitted ahead of me, leading me on, lit like signal lights in the mist. My chest loosened a little, and my heartbeat began to slow-

"Millie? Millie!"

Oh bumblemuffins. That was Mercy.

Her panicked yelling was coming from behind me; I must be turned the wrong way after all. I spun around and pelted down the path, not worrying anymore about being quiet. Mercy had the camera; my best chance to deal with whatever else heard her, which I'd guess would be everything within five miles, was to be next to her when it showed up.

"Millie, scream if you can hear me!"

"I'm here! Mercy, I'm here!" I couldn't see her yet, but hopefully I was close enough for her to hear me. "I'm ok!" I added as an afterthought.

It was awkward running with the water bottles, and now that Merc wasn't bellowing like a water buffalo anymore I wasn't quite so motivated to keep doing it. I slowed down to a manageable jog. With the reduced panting and sloshing I was just barely able to hear Mercy before she and Akizuki materialized out of the mist and I was almost knocked off my feet.

"I'm fine," I choked, trying to gently wiggle the camera out of my ribcage. "Really. Let's get back to the-"

"Mercy," Akizuki interrupted, "your six."

Without hesitation Merc dropped me and turned, her head and arms moving ahead of her body like a ballet dancer snapping back to center during a pirouette. The camera flashed and over her shoulder I saw a ghost with cuts all over its face and hair like Einstein melt into fireflies and go dark.

"I think I'm getting better at that," Mercy sniffed, turning back to me and wiping at her cheeks. _She's crying,_ I realized.

"It's a process," Akizuki agreed, sliding a hand under her elbow and placing his other one lightly on my back. "Shall we return?"

Mercy sniffed again and nodded. "We'd better." As she started back toward the tree I realized that she was limping. I looked at her, questions on my open lips, and saw Akizuki shaking his head out of the corner of my eye. I looked at him, he looked at me, and I closed my mouth. _Fine. But when we __get back to the tree I want answers._

Akizuki handed me down through the hole in the roots first, and I wasted no time in checking on Raj. When I looked back I saw Akizuki lifting my sister carefully to the ground. She stayed where he put her, leaning against the side of the tree and panting. "What were you doing out there?" she snapped.

"Getting water," I snapped back. "You left before I could tell you we needed it, and I wasn't sure when you'd be back. It couldn't wait. You may not have noticed, but Raj is really sick." Saying it made my voice crack; my eyes stung, and I blinked hard and started pulling water bottles from my jacket. "I think his leg's infected."

That brought both of them over in a hurry. Mercy dropped down next to me with a whump and began checking Raj's broken leg; she touched his skin gently and winced. Raj didn't move at all. "How long has he been like this?"

"He started getting grumpy just after you left last time, the time before you were Alice. He said his leg was hurting more. I gave him pain meds, but..." I bit my lip and twisted my hands in my shirt, trying not to cry. "The fever's been getting worse since then. Mercy, I want to go home."

She put her arms around me and rocked, patting my hair with one hand. "I know, munchkin, I know. I'll get you there, I promise. Both of you. Soon."

"He touched the spirit, didn't he?" Akizuki asked.

I nodded against Mercy's shoulder. "It grabbed him before I could get him away..."

"Shhh," Mercy said, still rocking. "Not your fault. We'll take care of him." But above her Akizuki was whispering a stream of 'damn's and running his hand through his hair.

"I might be able to help," he said after a minute. "If you ladies don't mind?"

"C'mon, munchkin. Let's see about that water." Mercy tugged me, on hands and knees, over to the space between the packs and the water bottles. "We should keep one or two of these just to cool him off."

"I'll start with that," I said, grabbing my pocket knife from my pack and slicing another strip from Mercy's fleece. I grabbed one of the water bottles and sat at Rajan's head, where I could swab his face with cool water and sing to him softly without being in Akizuki's way. Not that he seemed to be doing anything physically involved. He was sitting there, his hands on Rajan's leg and his eyes closed. He looked like he was praying. Well, that was something I was going to be doing, too. But first I leaned over and kissed Raj on one burning cheek. "Don't worry, baby. I'm going to take care of you."

A pair of tears splattered on his nose.


	14. Everything Falls Apart 4

Just wanted to let those of you reading know that I appreciate it, and I hope you're enjoying the story. Feel free to leave a comment... I'd love to hear what you think.

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><p><em>Mercy<em>

It took a long time for me to recover from the shock of coming back and finding Millie gone. Even in the safety of the tree my fingers shook so hard I could barely stuff the purification tablets in the stupid tiny bottle mouths; they kept rolling off the rims and sticking in the folds of my jacket. It didn't help that the shadows around me were now constantly moving, and even near, solid objects had a tendency to wobble and slide in my vision. We couldn't afford to wait here much longer, not if I was going to be conscious when we left again. We were too close to escape to stop our hunt now just so I could take a nap. There would be plenty of time for me to collapse when Raj was tucked in in the infirmary and nothing was stalking my sister.

I set the last of the water bottles with the others and pushed myself back to my feet; my left leg buckled and my vision blacked, but I managed to stay upright, and after a little while my blood caught up with me. My leg was still angry, and I went as easy on it as I could. Millie was too wrapped up in watching Raj to notice the heavy limp, and nothing was chasing us for now, so it didn't matter anyway.

The seal was supposed to be around here somewhere, but where? We had to find it. The Kureha shrine had yielded another one of those creepy veiled priests but no useful information, and no probable place to lay the ax. We could tear the whole shrine down, but it would probably be faster to just find the stupid pinwheel keys. Which would require having somewhere to put them...

Two ways in and out of the tree. Between them only trunk. Ok. I let my vision continue to trail around our little sanctuary. Candles, lanterns, bank of monuments... and something between the monuments and the pinwheels. Something I'd never stopped to examine before.

There was a shrine, a big wooden square with a little table in front of it on which a pair of candles burned. Inside the square, right at eye level for me, was a stone plate or seal, with four round indentations in an 'X' pattern around a central round stone. A round stone with a four color pinwheel design, almost exactly like the one on the key we'd found.

An arm appeared over my shoulder and touched the seal; when it drew back the first pinwheel key was nestled securely in one of the round indentations. "Perfect fit," Akizuki noted.

I hadn't heard him come up. "That's something, at least." I turned around, leaning surreptitiously against the cold stone of the seal. "How's Raj?"

He sighed, his hand straying through his beautiful hair again. "Not good. He was weak when the ghosts attacked him, and his body is weakening still. He needs modern medical care, as soon as we can get it to him." He reached out and brushed fingers against the empty slots in the seal. "I should have realized there was more to this. I took a picture of it when I was here before... I need to do some reading. I thought I'd get started on that while we wait; I've been able to help a little with the ghost sickness, and I'd like to monitor that anyway. I think spending a few hours here working on those things will be worth the time it takes."

A few hours? What could I do for a few hours? I ought to go take the watch, but the thought of standing out in the dark, alone, waiting, was more than I could stomach. "Do whatever you can to help him," I agreed, starting back for the spot where my pack waited. I knew it was only a few feet, but it seemed like miles. The hike up to the shrine had looked like Everest; I'd never have made it if Akizuki hadn't, unasked, plucked me from the ground and slung me over his shoulder again.

A map. A map would be useful. I never travel without paper; I could make us one. Show the village, the shrine, the tree, the river, figure out where we still hadn't searched. And I wouldn't have to go outside to do it. I sank down next to my pack, angled so I could see both doorways, just in case. I should get a blanket, too; my jacket was no longer enough to keep me warm. There were shivers starting in my shoulders and rolling down my back and arms, and my hands were shaking as they fumbled with the zippers on my pack. What was I looking for again?

In my peripheral vision, Akizuki frowned. "Mercedes, how long has it been since you slept?"

How long? I looked at my watch, still ticking away despite the eternal night outside the door. "Um... 24, 48... 54 hours? 56? I'm not sure." Sleep math has never worked well for me, but that had to be about right. "It's been a little while. Couple days."

"This place is safe. As safe is it gets in a village with an open hell gate, anyway. You should rest while you can."

I did my best to smile at him. "Can't sleep. Ghosts will eat my sister."

He looked at me, and I was too tired to read what his eyes were saying. I was too tired to even keep his eyes still. They wandered with his face, blurring in and out of focus as I blinked. He sighed, walking over until he could crouch and take my chin in his hand. The motion made me dizzy. "Mercedes, go to sleep. I will watch your sister."

"But-"

"I will do it. You go to sleep now. She'll be safe. Everything will be alright."

I blinked at him a few more times. From this distance his face held still. I still couldn't read his eyes, but his mouth was firm and kind. "You promise? I can't let anything-"

He interrupted me again. "I promise. It's safe." He laid his other hand on my shoulder and gently guided me to the ground, freeing the camera strap as he did. "Go to sleep." He snagged the remains of my fleece from the open mouth of my pack and slid it beneath my head, then laid his jacket across me. It was heavy and warm and it smelled like the woods. "I promise," he said again as my eyelids closed.

This strange safe darkness was heavenly. I let it swallow me whole.

* * *

><p><em>I am looking for Millie; she's lost again, hidden somewhere in the mist. I run everywhere, calling her, but all I find are empty buildings, rotted out and crumbling like old cicada shells.<em>

_ Butterflies collect around me. They hover, first a couple, then half a dozen, and eventually a whirling cyclone of glowing crimson wings tugging at my clothes and blinding me. They herd me through the village, shoving and dragging; through a hole in their cloud I catch a glimpse of the great house across the river. I cover my mouth and pray Millie isn't there._

_ When the butterflies part I'm in a room I've never seen before, a vast, dark space with a thousand twinkling candles ranged row after row after row. The butterflies form a flittering, floating curtain behind me, and in front of me..._

_ "Millie!" I scream, and run to lift her still body from the ground. She's wearing a white kimono, heavy and beautiful, and her skin matches it. Paper white, snow white, dead white. I am crying, but there is nothing I can do. I brush her dark hair away from her face..._

_ And Sae's empty black eyes look back at me, her wrenching giggle freezing me in place. I'm the one in the white kimono now, with a ruby sash tying me into it. Ice cold fingers close around my throat and blood wells-_

"Mercy! Mercy, are you alright?"

Millie. Millie's voice. Millie's face...

I screamed and scrambled back, bumped into a pair of legs. Before I could pick a new direction I felt strong arms close around me and Akizuki was whispering in my ear. "It's alright, Mercedes, you're safe. It was just a dream. You've been sleeping."

Sleeping. A dream. His words gave me an anchor and gradually the real world formed up around them, my memories falling into place. Millie, her face almost as pale as it had been in my nightmare, crept toward me again, her features contorted with worry. "Sissie, are.. are you ok? You were screaming..."

My shaking shoulders trembled harder, and Akizuki's grip tightened across me, keeping me fixed in the waking world. I focused on the warmth of his body and tried to pull myself together. "Yeah, ladybug. It was just a nightmare. A bad dream. Sorry I worried you."

She wasn't convinced. She took my right hand in hers and used her left to brush stray hairs from my face. "You want to talk about it?"

_Absolutely not_. "Thanks, but it's ok, really. How's Raj?"

Her eyes flicked worriedly to the stretcher and back. "About the same. It's only been about half an hour."

Well, at least that explained why I still felt like I'd been hit by a bus. "Do you think you can sleep again?" Akizuki asked. "You should, if its at all possible."

"I can try; shouldn't be too hard. A dream is just a dream, right?" I smiled for my sister. "Nothing to worry about." I yawned; my eyes were already closing again. Nightmare or not, my body demanded rest. "Goodnight," I managed as Aki laid me back down. Millie tucked the jacket back around me and dropped a kiss on my forehead.

"Sweet dreams this time, sissie."

I dropped back into the blackness.

* * *

><p><em>I have to get to him. The night is angry, my sister is gone, I'm lost and alone and he's the only thing I have left. I have to see him, just one more time. One more time before I go home. <em>

_ I can hear him, calling me from the storehouse, even though he knows I should be gone. It doesn't matter. The searchers will find me soon, and when they do I'll go with them, do as they ask. I'll kneel at my father's feet and beg forgiveness, accept my destiny. But first I have to say goodbye._

_ Itsuki..._

I woke with a jolt, rain drops sprinkling my skin and the memory of smoke clinging to my clothes. I was standing, stopped within arm's length of the bridge that connects the village and the Kureha shrine. In front of me Minakami was ablaze with light, and more than that. For the first time, a village worth of sound was rising on the dank air, a clamoring that filled the eternal night.

Voices. A hundred voices, pleading. Calling me.

They were all calling me.

Something was wrong but I couldn't place it. I knew I ought to turn around and run, but I couldn't. I wanted to move forward. I wanted to help them...

A hand came down on my shoulder and I turned, suddenly dizzy, suddenly cold. Akizuki's impassive face was right next to mine, the camera slung around his neck and one hand resting on it, ready at the shutter release.

"Mercedes, can you hear me?"

I blinked, trying to give my brain time to process a whole new slew of red flags. The night was suddenly deathly quiet and the rain was coming down much harder. Akizuki had me by both arms now, and behind him the huge old tree rose black against the clouds.

I looked back over my shoulder; the bridge wasn't even visible through the downpour. Nor was the much nearer point where the path split, branching off toward the shrine. I turned back to Akizuki, cold fear swelling in my abdomen. "What's going on? They were calling me..." I glanced back, toward the village.

He took my chin in his hand and drew me back. "Do you still hear them?" He didn't ask who they were; there was no need.

"No."

Something tiny relaxed in his face; it still showed no expression, but it was no longer made of stone. "You were sleepwalking. Come back inside."

I didn't need to be asked twice. He slipped the camera over his head and shoved it into my numb fingers, then wrapped his arm firmly around my back, taking weight off my stiff and throbbing leg. I leaned into him as the shivers started again, too disoriented to even worry about the burden I was becoming to this poor helpful man. He stood back as we reached the tree, letting me go first into our sanctuary.

Millie was kneeling next to Raj as I came in, her hand on his but her eyes on the door. "Was it a ghost? Did you get it?"

Akizuki's entrance gave me an excuse to be distracted and glance away, try to figure out what she was talking about. I looked at him and he held my eyes for just a second; I felt the weight of the camera in my hand. Understanding bloomed lightning fast in my brain.

"No," I told Millie. "It was nothing. Just my imagination, I guess."

She hadn't realized I'd been sleeping when I left the tree, and Akizuki hadn't told her. She thought I'd gone out after a ghost, and so he'd put the camera in my hands. So Millie wouldn't worry. I blessed him a thousand times over, trying to keep my face from showing what was going on in my head.

"This place is more than enough to stir up the imagination," she said, settling a little more comfortably and letting her free hand brush through Raj's hair. "And it's better safe than sorry. But I was really hoping you were asleep. Is that bad dream still keeping you up?"

"The last few days all feel like a bad dream," I told her, easing back down next to Akizuki's jacket and my poor battered fleece. "But that will be over soon enough. How's the luggage doing?"

She smiled at me. "A little better, I think. He feels cooler, anyway, and he's not moaning in his sleep anymore. Whatever Akizuki is doing, it's helped."

"It's little enough," Aki deflected, dropping to the dirt floor beside his pack and pulling out a book. "I'll see to him again in a few hours, and then we can go look for the other keys. You should try again to sleep," he told me.

"I will." Two attempts, two dreams, zero rest. Not a good pattern. A third time might be enough to get me grounded, and that wouldn't be good for anyone either. I needed to figure out a way to get some decent sleep so we could all get out of here.

"Hey, Mills?" I called softly. She cocked her head at me, bright eyes attentive. "Can I ask a favor?"

"Sure thing, sister bear. What do you need?"

"Would you mind singing for me? Just a song or two, to help me sleep?"

Her eyebrows went up a little, but she shrugged cheerfully. "I can do that." She squeezed Rajan's hand and kissed it, whispering, "right back, baby," as she stood up. I closed my eyes and felt her sit down next to me, one hand tucking me in again and the other playing with the end of my braid. "Any requests?"

"No, just your voice. Thanks."

"Mmm," she said, and started singing. I was out again before she finished.

* * *

><p>The next time I woke up I was neither standing nor screaming, but I was disoriented again. I could half remember a string of bad dreams, nightmares, things I didn't want to poke at lest they come all the way clear. Beyond that, and around it, I remembered the sensation of movement... still moving. My pillow was moving, very gently, up and down. And there was a heartbeat, steady and strong, underneath my ear.<p>

I cracked open one eye, even though it burned, trying to get my bearings. I was half-sitting, my legs stretched out in front of me, my spine curled to let my head rest against something firm and warm and covered in black. A book was propped against the jacket still draping my middle, its top balanced against knees drawn up next to my limp hand. As I watched, one muscled arm reached out to turn a page. Not my knees, not my book, not my arm. Akizuki. I was sleeping in Akizuki's lap, my head on his chest.

_Oh, I hope I didn't drool in my sleep._

I closed my eyes again, giving myself a moment to get things together. Despite the social awkwardness of the position I was warm and comfortable and I felt safe, all sensations I had no desire to abandon for the cold harsh reality I knew was waiting for me. It was waiting anyway; not so much waiting, even, as violently intruding. Already, threads of panic were winding through my brain, touching memories, stirring fallback plans, trying to fit pieces together. I had no idea what was going on. It might be bad. Probably was. There were the dreams, and the sleepwalking, and... Somewhere, just on the fringes of my awareness, I could hear voices again. Voices from the village. My eyes flew open and I shivered, breath catching a little as I pushed the murmurings firmly aside.

"You're awake," noted a rumbling bass voice under my left ear.

I shivered again, this time not with fear. "Yeah." I spared one eloquent look for our juxtaposition. "Um, good morning."

His chuckle jostled against me. "I apologize for the imposition," he said, the humor in his face quickly tempering into solemn concern. "It seemed to be for the best. Your sleep was... restless. I thought I might... thought it might help if you weren't abandoned to your dreams."

_He_ was apologizing to _me_ for the imposition? Well that was a different point of view, for damn sure. I blinked a little more, trying to get my eyes awake, and cautiously stretched my toes. "It seems to have worked. I feel like I got some sleep."

"Not as much as I would have liked," he frowned. "It's barely been four hours, and you slept lightly. Want to try again?"

"I'm awake now," I answered honestly. It didn't matter how attractive the thought of staying right here seemed, or how conflicted I would be about doing so. That was one battle I didn't have to fight. It didn't even matter how tired I still was. My mind was alert again, and I would have no peace until it was done bossing me. I shifted, trying to lift my head and get a good look around without squashing my charming pillow. "Where's Millie?"

He jerked his chin and my eyes followed the motion until they landed on my sister. She was stretched out next to Raj, half turned from me, her headphones in, silently singing along as she doodled on her jeans with a pen. "She's pretty bored," Akizuki confided, humor alight in his face once more.

I smiled and sat up a little more, sliding half off Akizuki's lap. "And Raj? How's he doing?"

"Stable, I think. I've done what I can. He was awake for a few hours, while you slept, and he seemed improved. Your sister was pleased."

The reminder that I'd been curled up on top of Akizuki, cutting off his circulation and maybe snoring and who knows what else, for _four hours_ spurred me all the way free of his lap. I knelt next to him, clutching his jacket from the inside, and tried not to think about it. Instead I smiled at Millie. "I'll just bet she was." When I looked back at him he was watching her, too, and smiling. "Thank you," I said. "I'm losing track of how many times we'd have been dead without you."

"It's the least I could do, trust me. Are you sure you don't want more sleep?"

I shook my head. "Even if I tried, it wouldn't come. I'm good enough to go out again, anyway. Let's find some pinwheel keys and get out of here." The camera was laying on the ground between us, in easy reach of his left hand. I realized belatedly that his right had been around my back. I picked up the camera and stood, gingerly feeling out my left leg. It seemed improved as well.

"As you wish." Akizuki stood up, too, one finger still in the book to mark his page. "Would you like to eat before we go?"

"No." That was another thing that was going to give me problems for a while. I'd seen too much, and I was about to see more. But hey, who needs sleep or food? At least it would mean more for the others. "You?"

"I ate recently." He bent down and snagged his pack, rifling through it with one hand to make sure everything he needed was still there. I limped over to mine to do the same. The movement drew Millie's eye; she pulled one earbud out and grinned at me.

"He's getting better!" she said, bounce in her voice and a smile in her limbs. "You guys getting ready to foil evil again?"

"Getting ready to go open a door," I corrected, satisfying myself that nothing had mysteriously vanished from my bag. "Before we leave, do you need anything?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "That depends. Are you leaving for a day or for a week this time?"

I rolled my eyes right back at her. "A week, obviously." There wasn't much I could get for her anyway. She still had water... "Where are we going, anyway?" I asked Aki, reluctantly handing him back his jacket.

"I haven't found any further information on the location of the keys," he told me grimly, sliding it on. "There are a few major areas around the village we haven't checked yet, maybe something will turn up there."

"The storehouse, but one key was already found there, so we should save it for later, I think. The Osaka house, at the bottom of Misono hill; we haven't been through that one yet, not the right way. And the hill itself, I guess, now that we know what we're looking for."

"And the cemetery."

Oh, of course. The cemetery. "We didn't finish Tachibana either. Not technically. There might be more to find."

Neither of us wanted to go back and search Tachibana's ground floor, though. And neither of us wanted to so much as mention the rooms beyond the little twin paths at the Kurosawa house across the bridge.

"They're kind of spread out; there won't be a convenient pattern to search in. But we could do Osaka, and the hill, and the graveyard in a line and then come back and check in," I recommended. Save the worst for last, and hope we didn't have to do them.

"That makes sense. That should take us roughly three hours, I would think. Maybe a little more, but for the last part at least we'll be within shouting distance."

"Alright, then," Millie agreed. "I'll just go stay here then, hold the fort and all that. Have fun storming the castle!" She really was in a much better mood; the smile she shot me was at least half a commentary on where I woke up. She was reading way too much into that- I hoped Akizuki didn't pick up on that.

I smiled and shook my head at her. Akizuki just raised one thick, dark eyebrow. "I think we're ready," I told him. "I love you, Mills-"

"I know. Stay safe, and you'll be back soon. I love you, too."


	15. Everything Falls Apart 5

_Mercy_

The hard rain had stopped; it was just sprinkling again, although the cloud cover was as thick as ever. We left the tree on the village side, along the route I'd tried to take last night in my sleep. It could have been last night, or last year, or twenty years ago, for all the changes in this light forsaken place.

Not last night, though, not technically. I was losing all real sense of time. My sense of the outside world was fading, too; I was losing track of just what was real. _I want to go home._

"So what did the books say this time?" I asked,

"Nothing remarkable, and little, apparently, that could not also be gained by sleep."

"What?"

He cocked his head. "Who is Itsuki?"

A handsome white haired boy with a small, sad smile. A boy I had to see. "I- I think he lived here. Before."

Akizuki shoved his hands in his pockets and looked back at the path. "He was one of the twins who lived in the last house we searched. The surviving one, who wrote the journal and tried to help the next shrine maidens escape. When you went to sleep, did you know the names of the houses in the village?"

"I-" _Osaka, Tachibana, Kiryu, Tsuchihara... Kurosawa. I do know them. I know them all. And I know who lived there._

I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly freezing. I really was slipping. Akizuki's words came back to me: "_her sister was supposed to strangle her..."_

"Something appears to be trying to communicate with you," he observed blandly. "How did your other sister escape the hellgate she encountered? You've never mentioned."

"She fixed a part of the seal on it that had broken, and she found it a new guardian."

"A new guardian?" That one surprised him. "How did she do that?"

"It wasn't by the rules, but... she was traveling with someone... it's kind of a weird story. They were escorting a prisoner, a murderer, when they were trapped. He was the one to stay and hold it shut."

"The gate accepted a murderer? I find that... improbable."

"Well, that's the thing. He was doing it because he really believed it was right. The killing people, I mean. Messed up, but..." I shrugged. "I guess his motives were pure enough that he could still keep the doors closed. I don't think so, personally, but I'm not the one who makes that call. And it got my sister out, so I can't complain."

"I don't think we'll have that option here. No substitute sacrifice."

"No." _Please, no._ "I think... I think the gate was really desperate, if that makes any sense. And it took some help, too, from the family, to make the switch work. I don't think they can reach us here."

Of course, they wouldn't technically need to. We had the sacrifice this hell gate wanted, all ready to order. And it knew. It was prying its way into my mind, loosening my hold on myself, trying to brainwash me. Trying to make me kill my sister.

I would kill myself first.

But we weren't quite to that point yet. Akizuki was watching my face as we crossed the bridge; I tried to think of something useful to say. "It was really a stroke of luck for Viv, her group working out the way it did. I know a lot of twins, but I can't think of anyone I hate enough to... wait. I take that back. There is one. But he's already dead, and I'm not sure if he's the older or the younger, either. I think he was the older twin."

"That would actually be right. The tradition here is old, different from in the west. They count the last twin to leave the womb as the elder. What did the dead man do to earn your ire?"

"The last twin?" He nodded. I answered his question, trying not to sound dazed. "He raped my aunt. Among other things." The last twin was the oldest. "How do they justify that older/younger designation? It seems backward."

"It has to do with familial obligations; being born is dangerous, and it's more dangerous the longer it takes. The responsible elder twin naturally lets the weaker, younger one go first."

I blinked a few times at this unusual interpretation; Akizuki laughed at me. "I see. Well, I guess that would have been perfect, then. Assuming its always the older twin killing the younger?"

"Always," he confirmed. "Too bad we can't bring his spirit back and make it do penance. But I don't think there is any stretch that would make the gate regard him as pure."

"No. Too bad." I kept my voice steady, but inside I was laughing. _Take that, you stupid darkness! Take that!_ It wasn't Millie the gate wanted. The gate wanted to make Millie kill me.

It still wasn't an ideal circumstance, of course; the plan was to take the keys and get out. But if worst came to absolute worst, I still had a way to get Millie and Raj and Aki out alive. That knowledge did as much or more to refresh me than the sleep had. Whatever happened, it would be ok.

We'd worked our way around Kiryu house, talking; we both kept a wary eye on the long, looming walls of Tachibana, but no laughter spilled out into the night. "Akizuki," I said as we approached our destination, "I know I've already asked you this once, but things are just getting weirder, and... well, I hope you'll forgive me. But if anything happens to me here-"

"I'll honor your request and see your sister and Rajan to safety. But don't you think she'd rather you were with her as well?"

"Of course! And so would I," I added fervently. "I'm talking strictly last resort, here. After all," I smiled at him, "someone has to look after you."

He laughed as we rounded the corner and confronted our destination. "Indeed, and you've done very well so far. Better than I have with you. Are you sure you still want the camera?"

I cradled the now familiar black body, the shutter release firm and ready under my fingers. "I'm just now getting good. And I still can't run." The limp had lessened, but it wasn't gone. "Besides, it's mine until I pass out, remember?"

"No fair," he groused. "I passed out about two seconds in."

My stomach flopped as I remembered him, lying cold and unresponsive on the bridge. "You took a harder hit than I have yet." I looked over and caught his eye. "If you actually want it back, though, its yours. Just tell me. Until then, I'll take my share of the load." I opened the front door, camera poised, and stepped in. As he followed me into the entryway I gestured to the kimono room where I'd seen my first ghost here, just on the other side of the bars. "Start in there?"

He gestured me onward with a grin. "Right to left, front to back."

I rolled my eyes and pulled open the door to the main room. It was just as I had left it, dark and empty and falling apart. And cold. What was up with that? It was summer, and it had still felt like summer when we wandered into this place. But ever since, the heat had been slowly leeching out of me. It was obvious now that this place hadn't seen sun in years.

We crossed the room to the door beside the low lantern; it opened with a little creak.

Something in here was different.

"I recognize this feeling," I said as goosebumps popped out on my arms and my scalp began to crawl. "Better let me go first. You be lookout?"

He nodded and stayed hovering in the doorway as I inched carefully into the room, camera trained and ready on the hanging kimono that blocked my view of most of the rest of the space. There was something nasty in here, and it was probably waiting for me just behind that fall of silk.

Except that when I edged around it, the room was empty.

I scanned carefully: floors, ceilings, in between trunks, but there was nothing. The sick feeling in my stomach didn't fade and the goosebumps hadn't subsided, but maybe they were just nerves? I was still exhausted. On the other hand...

Akizuki followed me in, moving to stand right behind me, watching my back. Still nothing moved, and no sound broke the silence beyond our own breathing.

"I guess we should get on with it," I admitted. "You search, I'll keep the camera on you?" Just like before. The familiarity of the arrangement, at least, was comforting.

"Okay." He began moving around the room, opening trunks and pulling out drawers, leaving no corner un-ransacked now that we knew how small the object of our desire was. "Just clothes, I think." He was almost all the way around the room. "We may want to-" he popped another lid open and stopped short. "Uh-oh."

"What?" I kept the camera ready on the space around him, unwilling to drop my guard while he was distracted.

"Check this out."

Underneath the open lid the trunk was black. Not shadowed, not lined, but completely full of a menacing nothing that showed no texture and ate the flashlight beam whole.

"That... you better back up. We'll throw something-"

A white hand darted from the box and and grabbed his wrist.

The camera flashed, its light not making any more impression than the flashlight had, but it was enough to make the dead, clawing fingers let go. Akizuki dropped backwards, limp and panting, his arms shaking and his face gray. The kimono box rattled, the sound of rushing air rising from depths it shouldn't have, and he struggled to push himself farther way. I stumbled forward, throwing myself between his supine form and whatever the void might vomit up. "You ok?" I asked, risking a quick glance over my shoulder. He nodded dizzily and started trying to get his trembling limbs underneath him. I shook my head, willing him back down. "Stay back. I'll get this if you can stay behind me."

When I looked back there were fingers clenched on the trunk edge. Inside it somewhere a baby wailed and then started to cry.

The baby startled me, but it wasn't an infant that crawled out of the blackness and and dropped to the ground. I took another shot with the camera as the shape cleared the box, but it was too high. I had expected her to actually stand when she rose.

She made it only half way. Her legs unfolded but her back stayed hunched, curled over parallel to the floor. Her arms stuck out sideways, limp and hanging from the elbow on. Her face lifted a little, dark circled eyes glaring at me from behind a curtain of matted hair, and I angled the camera down, centering on the swaying darkness that hid her face. My finger was pressing the shutter release again as she opened her mouth wide and lunged, impossibly red lips stretching in her blue-veined face, a shrieking blur of midnight and teeth magnified in my viewfinder.

I fumbled the camera, but she was so close I couldn't miss. Her glowing head passed through my heart, a galaxy of sparks exploding from her navy kimono and swarming around me, like the butterflies in my dream, blinding me in brightness. When they faded and my vision came back, though, I was still right where I had been, staring at an empty kimono box, my heartbeat pounding in my fingers.

"Holy..." Akizuki pulled himself over to the kimono box and looked inside; I got my hands around the camera again in a hurry. This time, though, no alternate space lurked between the four decorated sides. "But look what she had." He plucked a small, circular stone from the bottom of the trunk. Not quite empty, then. He slumped against the box and closed his eyes, color slowly percolating back into his face.

I still hadn't quite caught my breath. "Good thing. That was..." I needed a whole new vocabulary for this place. "Did you... did you hear the baby?"

He nodded grimly, his wrist cradled across his chest.

"Wow. Just when I think it can't get worse. Excuse me a moment." I limped over to the window and gripped the wooden bars. The outside door was still partly open, and a breeze blew against my face. The fresher air eased the spinning in my stomach and the lightness in my head.

Behind me, Akizuki stirred. "Let's get out of here."

I didn't feel quite up to moving yet. The air was so nice, and I had something to lean on, and I was tired all over again. There would be more ghosts once we left this room...

"Mercy?"

Of course, there could be more ghosts here just as easily, and Akizuki might be hurt. I turned around. "Sorry, yeah." He was working his way upright again; I limped over and helped him to his feet. "Is your arm ok?"

He grimaced, rolling his wrist. "Bruised, but I'll live." Red, finger-shaped blotches were already darkening where the ghost hand had lain.

I looked him over carefully. "And the rest of you?"

"Likewise." He held my eyes for a moment, his face calm and reassuring. He looked like himself, and that was as good an answer as I was likely to get.

"Alright, then," I nodded. "On to the cemetery."


	16. End of the Line 1

Mercy

On the way to the cemetery we stopped to look over Misono hill again, but it didn't take us long. There just wasn't much there to search. Plus proximity to the circle of jutting stones on the hill crest made the voices in my mind louder. I stayed as far away as possible and hoped I wasn't muttering.

Akizuki gave me his arm as we descended the hill on the opposite side; the limp was getting worse again. I was grateful for the assistance and made sure to keep my hands well back from the blackening bruise across his wrist. We walked slowly, not talking, both of us still feeling the weight of our last encounter. If we didn't get all the keys soon, no one would be in good enough shape to use them. Millie would have to carry us out one at a time, across her back.

The fog thickened as we crossed the river, huge droplets hanging in the air and refracting the flashlight beams, almost like a rainstorm halted in mid-fall. I looked down at the dark water under the bridge and had a brief, irrational fantasy of jumping in, all of us simply floating under whatever magic barrier pinned us here. It wouldn't make me any more wet. Then I remembered the drowned woman and looked away, shivering. There would be voices in the water, too.

"The cemetery should be fairly quiet," Akizuki assured me as its low stone wall materialized out of the mist. "People who were already buried don't seem to have been affected by the ceremony's failure."

"And all the ones who were alive are out roaming the town. Good. Let's get this done."

"Where do you recommend we start?"

"With the Tsuchiharas, I think. Their family had already basically died out when-" I came to a dead stop, realizing what was coming out of my mouth.

"I'm sorry," Akizuki said kindly, brushing my cheek with his thumb, "but if the knowledge can help us escape, I believe we should use it."

"You're right, of course. You're right." It still gave me the creeps. Akizuki's face held only sympathy, but I bet it creeped him out, too.

"I'll check the markers for Tsuchiharas," he said, guiding me just inside the wall before he let me go. "You guard my back?"

I nodded, pulling the camera up to ready position. He patted my shoulder and got to work.

Aki moved quickly, but there were a lot of markers, etched in tiny script and packed in dense rows. My leg was stiff and my fingers were going numb before he finished the second row. I noticed him methodically opening and closing his right hand; he didn't seem to have full movement back yet, and what he did have looked like it hurt.

I tried singing to myself as he worked along the next row, but I couldn't concentrate. The uneasiness was growing again, pushing on me from inside and out. We were wasting time, precious time that we didn't have. This wasn't the place we should be looking. Something as important as the key should be someplace central, someplace guarded. Someplace like Kurosawa house.

We should go back, search it again. I didn't want to, but we should.

"Here we are! Tsuchiharas," he announced, slowing a little and searching more carefully around each marker.

Akizuki was getting too far away; I couldn't see the area around him clearly. I threaded my way through the crowded, high, white stone markers, trying to get close enough to be useful. "Empty or not, this place is creepy."

Akizuki straightened up with a sigh. "Yeah, I know. But the funny thing is, this place is less frightening than the house across the river."

I entertained a fleeting suspicion that he could read my mind, discarded it for the much more likely scenario in which Kurosawa house freaked out everyone who entered it on a permanent level. "I agree completely." I hesitated, pondering confession. Some corner of my mind that I could still recognize as rational was urging it. "You want to know something even funnier? I have a feeling, a _really_ strong feeling, that I have something important to do at that house. Like I need to go back _right now_." It was more than the search. I felt like our only chance was going back.

"That... isn't so funny. I don't think that would be safe."

"Not a bit, but it feels like I should anyway. I don't know, maybe it's just paranoia. I'm still super tired. But I wonder if I shouldn't, just in case." The little rational voice pushed again, and more words came tumbling out of my mouth. "Also, I can hear the village again. I think they're asking for help."

He turned towards me, his face all but invisible in the darkness. The frown in his voice, however, was perfectly clear. "Mercedes, I don't—"

"Aki, drop!"

The grasping white hand lowered at the same time he did, but not quite as quickly; it hit his head rather than his neck. I didn't wait to take the picture. Akizuki himself still occupied most of the frame, but I caught enough of the ghost that the blow to Aki was a glancing one, knocking him to the earth dazed but free. The thing left him there, advancing instead on me.

She was less damaged than most of the ghosts that I had seen, her legs straight and her arms perfect as they reached for me. The only injury I could discern was the one that must have killed her. Her beautiful face lay along her shoulder, bent in a decidedly unnatural angle a little more than ninety degrees from her neck, the skin twisted around the site of the injury. She was coming straight at me through the monuments, innocent-looking eyes wide and her lips slightly parted, like I was the surprising one. She was fast. Instinctively I took a step back...

...and tripped over something in the packed yard behind me, falling hard to the moist earth. I managed to keep my head up and the camera in my hands, but all the wind was knocked out of me. I scrambled to find the shutter release again, knowing the broken necked woman wouldn't care, but it was too late. Icy cold hands closed around my throat and a twisted face, innocent eyes still wide and lips almost smiling, hovered just above mine, became the last thing I could see.

Just as it had in Kiryu house, the world bent and my body rebelled, writhing in pain and violation. I was already out of air, I couldn't see, I couldn't even sense my own limbs. I tried to mash the camera button, but this time I was the one to splinter apart as a shower of sparks in the darkness.

* * *

><p>My mind coalesced again, still in darkness, aware that some time had passed but with no idea if it was half a second or half a day... my chest was on fire and there was a presence above me. I willed my fingers to move and this time they twitched; cool, hard casing brushed against my skin. I still had the camera. One more desperate twitch; as the button depressed I realized that something warm had just moved from my lips. An exclamation sounded above me.<p>

_Akizuki. Have to..._

I rolled onto my side, jamming one elbow into the soft earth to brace me as the camera strap was lifted off my neck. I forced my eyelids apart; the night swam and then steadied. Akizuki was on his knees at my side, but I couldn't see the ghost with the broken neck. "Wh-" My lungs seized and spasmed, a coughing fit doubling me over and blacking out my vision. My stomach rebelled as well, and I was glad I hadn't eaten in quite a while. "Where...?" I gasped, trying to force my body to obey me. "Ghost?"

"No," Akizuki said, "but if I was, you would've gotten me good. Impressive, since I wasn't aware you were conscious." His voice softened. "You caught her with that last picture, just before... It must have been just before you passed out."

She was gone. My sense of the night restructured, my wakening impressions falling into a new line. I rolled a little farther, onto my knees, taking ever deepening sips of dank air. She was gone, and the presence above me when I came to had been Aki. The warmth on my lips... "Sorry," I rasped, trying to lever my arms straight. It didn't work; they buckled and draped me back over my folded legs, my head spinning and my chest and throat still burning. "Clumsy," I mumbled, letting my head fall. It was too much work to hold it up. "Sorry."

"Hey, look," he said cheerily, and I didn't but I heard him moving. "She had a key." A longish pause during which I found that swallowing was excruciating and, like talking, made me cough, and then his voice was moving back toward me. "And the tree isn't far." A wave of dizziness swept me and when it receded I was in the air, my head once more cushioned against Akizuki's broad chest, my body cradled in his arms and bouncing with his steps. "Let's take a rest break," he said, winding through the grave markers toward the tree. "And its definitely my turn for the camera."

"Your turn," I acknowledged. The words started another coughing fit, but a much shorter one. As the agony in my throat ebbed again I lay, limp and grateful, against his warmth and tried to process what had just happened. There was only one good explanation for what I remembered, and it meant that I had almost died. You don't do mouth-to-mouth on someone who's still breathing.

He went the long way, forgoing the nearer entrance for the one he could potentially carry me through. That, though, wouldn't be a good idea. Whatever had almost happened, I was still alive, and the sooner I remembered that the sooner we could all get out of here. I steeled myself and looked up at Aki, tugging on his jacket.

"Can I get down?" I whispered. "Have to," I interrupted myself with more coughing, "walk for Millie."

He waited until I'd caught my breath again and then set me down, very delicately, on my own two feet. I swayed, but I didn't fall, largely because of my death grip on his arm. I loosened my fingers and he shifted, turning his arm to support me. His free hand came up and pushed at the high collar of my jacket, baring my neck. Whatever he saw made his face tighten and his lips draw down in a frown; I reached up and gently batted his hand away, resettling the collar and making sure it was zipped all the way up to my chin. He shook his head and smiled at me, the same smile Millie used when she was letting three-year-old Andrea do something all by herself. I wouldn't complain about that, though. After all, he'd just saved my life. Again.

"Thanks," I whispered. "Really. Thank you."

"Anytime," he said, and hugged me, his cheek lingering for a moment against my hair. "Thank you," he added while I was frozen in shock. "For watching my back, and giving me a friend here. Friends make this place a little more bearable."

True, and he said it like he meant it. I smiled. Maybe I wasn't just dead weight. "Good." My voice was still raspy, and it really hurt to talk. Millie would notice if I whispered. "You share the good news?"

"Sure."

I slid through the opening, his hand still firm under my arm. Millie looked up, a grin already on her face. "You're back!" She was holding Rajan's hand, and he was awake and smiling, too. "Did you find it?"

"We did," Akizuki announced, holding up the little round stone. "Only one left."


	17. End of the Line 2

_Millie_

"I can't believe four rocks are going to be our way out," Raj said. The sound of his voice after so much worry still filled me with little champagne bubbles of happiness, despite the fact that we'd been talking for an hour. Mercy looked happy, too; she didn't say anything, but she sat down beside us and patted his shoulder.

"So where's the last one?" I asked. One more trip, and we were home free.

Akizuki's smile faded. "Well, that's what we have to figure out. We know there was one key given to each of four families, and we know which families' keys we have. The Kiryu family's is the only one we're missing. But we've already searched that house."

I frowned. "I thought you weren't looking in the houses for them."

"At first it didn't seem like we should, but now... We've searched every major public space in the village, and while there are rooms in some of the other houses we haven't searched..." he shrugged. "It shouldn't be there. The keys have all had guardians, from the appropriate families. I expect there will be a Kiryu guardian for this last one, and we've simply missed it somewhere. We didn't know, on our first pass, how small the key was. We were looking for written materials. I think that's where it will be."

Mercy's lips were a tight line. She didn't like that place. "Or across the river," she whispered.

"But that's a place of last resort," Akizuki replied firmly. "Better to exhaust our other options first."

"Sounds reasonable to me," I said. "Raj and I will start packing up. It'll take us at least five minutes, but I think we'll be done by the time you get back. We'll be home by..." I looked at my watch and tried to calculate, but I couldn't even remember anymore if it was on California or Japanese time. "Soon. We'll be home really soon."

Akizuki was smiling at me. "I'd better get started, then." His gaze shifted over to my sister. "I'll go look. You rest up."

Mercy shook her head and got back to her feet. "Nobody goes alone."

"But he's a dude," Raj protested weakly. He was starting to look wan again; he was improving, but it was still a lot of work for him to be awake for even an hour or two.

"Which does not make him immune. I'm with Mercy. Nobody goes alone. Boys." I rolled my eyes. "They all think they're superman."

"I'm just sayin'," Raj argued, "if I were a ghost I would go for the beautiful, simpering female."

"Simpering?" I protested. "Simpering?"

Mercy's laugh turned into a cough. "I don't simper. Thanks, though." She pulled out a water bottle and took a swallow, leaning back against the wall of the trunk.

"And men can be beautiful," I added, looking significantly at my gorgeous boyfriend. "Just a different kind of beautiful."

"Almost all the ghosts have been female," Mercy noted with a wicked smile. Her voice sounded raspy, kinda like it gets when she's been up way too long. Which she had.

Akizuki shivered. "Thanks for _that_ thought. So then, if I'm not to go alone, who will my partner be?"

"Not Mercy?" Something was weird here. "Did you guys fight or something?"

"Yeah, did we?" she asked, tilting her head.

"I just thought..." He looked confused.

Raj chuckled. "Mercy, what did you do to him? Poor dude..."

She kicked his good leg, very lightly. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Raj."

"Mercy," Aki asked, "do you think you can handle one more trip?"

She nodded. "Ready when you are."

Something still wasn't right. I looked her over carefully. "Mercy? You're shaking." She was pale, too, and slumped, and wobbling now that she didn't have the trunk to lean on.

She crossed her arms and looked away from me. "Just a little tired. It's fine." She coughed. "We're almost home. I-"

"My turn." Raj would sleep; he'd been doing the long blink for the last half hour, trying to pretend he wasn't tired the same way he was trying to pretend his leg wasn't killing him. He wouldn't last another five minutes once it got quiet. I grabbed my pack and began sorting supplies. Water, flashlight, first aid stuff, lollipops...

"What?" She was blinking at me, trying to figure out what I was talking about. Yeah, it was past time I took over.

"To go out," I explained. "My turn." I looked to Raj, explaining. "We have the camera, so it will be safe. And Mercy will look out for you. It's ok, right?"

He wasn't thrilled, but he could see Mercy, too. "Yeah, as long as you stay together."

"Will do." I grabbed Akizuki by the arm and hauled him toward the door. "Come on, dark stranger, let's go find us a key."

I didn't know the way to the house, except that it was in the village and the path led to the village, so I just kept to the path. Within a dozen steps Akizuki stopped lagging and I let go of him, ready to follow if he went somewhere odd. He was looking at me like _I'd _just gone somewhere odd, and interesting. "So, Millie," he said, "tell me about yourself."

I blushed, suddenly nervous. "What do you want to know?"

He shrugged. "Anything."

"Um, my real name is Margaret and... I like purple? And lollipops. And Rajan!" I was picking up steam, now; this wasn't so awkward after all. " And traveling around. I've been all over. I like adventure! But not ghosts. I don't like ghosts."

He stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'm not a big fan, either."

"What about you?" I asked, honestly curious.

"Me?" He glanced over at me and then back at the trail. Another trail branched off to the left, but he ignored it, so I did, too. "I'm from Tokyo. Well, the country outside of Tokyo. But I also enjoy travel." He thought for a second. "In addition to Japanese and English I speak some German."

"Your English is great! I'm from California. I speak a little Spanish and a little Urdu and I'm learning Hindi; Rajan's teaching me that. He was born in India."

"Urdu?" There went his eyebrow again. "I've never met anyone learning that."

"Yeah, well, you never know what you're going to need, and I picked it up kind of by accident." That was a long story, though, and not what I was really thinking about. I kicked a stone in the path; it skittered forward a few feet before it came to rest. I stuck my hands in my pockets and kicked it again- it zoomed onto the bridge in front of us and over the edge.

I had more I wanted to talk to him about, but it was serious and I had a good idea that I wouldn't like what he had to say. I started in anyway. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" He nodded. "What happened to Mercy's leg?"

"She had a nasty run in with a demon possessed doll. Replica of a little girl, maybe 9. Life sized. In the house we're going to, actually."

No wonder she didn't like it. "Demon possessed doll? Are there more of those?"

"I sure hope not."

"But she's ok, right? Mercy, not the doll."

"I think so, yes." He didn't say it like he meant 'of course'. He said it like we'd have to get her to Simon to be sure.

Life sized demon possessed doll. What else had they run across out here? And without Aki, Mercy would have been all by herself... "I wanted to thank you for looking out for my sister. She really does tend to get carried away on the whole protective thing. I mean, she's only barely older than me, but from the way she acts you'd think that thirty minutes was ten years-"

His hand clamped on my arm and made me jump. When I looked up his eyes were wide in the dark; I could see lanterns reflecting in them. "Thirty minutes? You and Mercedes are thirty minutes apart? You're twins?"

I nodded. "Mmm-hmm. I think that's partly what's got sissie so freaked out. You know, the whole twin shrine maiden thing, and reenacting the ritual. Although, you never know. Might be kind of cool. Somebody needs to help these people, and kimonos are beautiful-"

Akizuki let go of my arm and took off running, back toward the tree.

"Hey, wait for me!" I ran after him, glad I was wearing tennies instead of the cute heeled sandals that made up more than a third of my footwear collection back home and were my favored shoes for summer outings. "What's wrong?"

"Sacrifices. The shrine maidens were a sacrifice, that was their part in the ritual. One was strangled and dropped into the hellgate to pacify it."

What? WHAT? "Who _does_ that?" I panted in outrage. "That is _so wrong_!"

"It's not about the kimonos."

Kimonos? Oh, right, reenacting the ritual... the ritual! They wanted to kill one of us, and- "Mercy doesn't know!" No wonder we were running.

"She knows." He spit the words through clenched teeth and put on speed.

She knew? And she hadn't told me, because she wanted to protect me. When we got home she and I were going to have a talk.

I beat Akizuki to the fork in the path. Unfortunately, something else beat us both.

He wasn't like the last ghosts I'd seen. They had looked human, just a little translucent. This guy was clearly floating, and he was dressed in some seriously odd clothes, a staff and a sort of pointy hat with a cloth in front of his face. He was technically in the cemetery, but for once the rain had stopped and there was no mist, so there was nothing to hide me from his eyes except for his own outfit, which apparently didn't get in his way. The bright, bouncing beam of my flashlight wasn't much good for camouflage, either. Between one blink and the next he disappeared from the cemetery and poofed into being dead center on the trail.

Akizuki yanked me backward, stepping in front of me and taking a picture. The light from the flash barely reached the creepy floating man; he roared and lowered his staff, flying sideways like he was trying to get behind Aki, but Aki circled with him and kept the camera up. "Stay behind me," he whispered tensely, "and shout if you see anything."

I turned around so that Aki and I were back to back, the pressure of his body against mine keeping me moving with him. Raj liked to teach me sports like that, so I could feel how the muscles were supposed to move; it was the only way I ever really got the hang of it. It felt weird to be so close to a man who was almost a stranger, but I was too busy trying not to die to worry about it. Aki ducked suddenly sideways, tugging me the same way, and a _ball of fire_ flew through the space where we'd just been.

After that I had to look.

I turned around and saw we'd done nearly two full circles; the ghost was almost back between us and the tree, and much closer than he had been. He was lifting his staff, flames forming at its tip, and I got ready to duck again. Before the fire was complete, though, Akizuki took two running steps forward and snapped a photo. I knew it was over when the ghost dropped his staff and screamed.

As the creepy flying man dissolved into balls of light, I ran for the tree and threw myself into the shrine. Raj still lay on his stretcher, his eyes closed. He was alone.


	18. End of the Line 3

_Millie_

I crossed over to the stretcher; Aki stalked to the middle of the room and looked around, giving his eyes one last chance to change their minds. His hands clenched into fists again. "Get your stuff."

I bent to check on Raj; he was still sleeping and apparently comfortable. "Maybe if we just-"

I was interrupted by my sister's voice. "You found it?"

Mercy slid through the other doorway and lowered herself to a sitting position against the wall.

"You are here!" I raced over and hugged her. Her skin was cold against my cheek, and she smelled like mist and lemons.

"Of course," she said, patting my back. "Heard a noise and went to look, is all. Sorry to scare you. So, did you find it?" Mercy asked, coughing again. She was really pale, her eyes sunk in dark circles; I hoped she wasn't getting sick. She'd been driving herself so hard.

"We've only been gone about ten minutes," I laughed, and then remembered that I was angry at her.

I wasn't the only conflicted one, either. Akizuki stalked over and knelt in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders; I couldn't tell if he was going to hit her or kiss her. He didn't do either. "You never told me you were a twin," he said in the same voice he used to tell me she knew about the sacrifice. I labeled that his angry voice. It was calm and yet very scary, like Uncle Rezza when he's really, really mad.

"Not identical," Mercy responded, her face smoothing and her chin coming up. She was preparing to be stubborn. "Millie and I are fraternal twins."

"Tell the ceremony master that. I'm sure he'll send you right home."

"I didn't want to tell a stranger more than I had to," Mercy said calmly, and Akizuki flinched the tiniest bit and let go of her arms. "By the time I knew you well enough to trust you to protect my sister it didn't seem to matter. We'd found the way out and were collecting keys."

"I can't believe you didn't tell _me_!" I wanted to yell, but I kept it to a furious whisper, for Raj's sake. "The ghosts want to kill one of us and you didn't even say anything! You just kept going out and taking all the danger on yourself and it's mean! You think I don't care what happens to you? And stand up, I feel weird yelling at you from up here."

She stood, inching her way up the tree trunk and trying not to smile. "You knew they were trying to kill us because they kept attacking. And of course you care, but it made sense for me to be the one to go."

"I knew they were angry," I qualified. "I didn't know that every time you went out, every last ghost would see murdering you as the end of their rainbow. There's a difference, a big one, and you never said a thing."

"I'm equipped to handle it. I can hide!"

Oh, for crying... "Not when you're this tired! And don't think I didn't know that. C'mon, Mercy, I'm not an idiot and I'm not a child. Thirty minutes seniority doesn't give you unilateral decision making authority! And you didn't even mention it! I should have the right to protect you, too, especially when it comes to deciding who is going to be a human sacrifice!"

"You don't get to pick," Akizuki interrupted. "The older twin strangles the younger. Always."

Oh. Well, that would explain why Mercy hadn't told me. "Wait, wait. I'm confused. To complete their weird ritual whatever they want both of us? One to kill the other?" He nodded. "But... we're fine then. We don't have to worry." I wrinkled my nose. "That whole fratricide..." I frowned and looked at Mercy. "Sistricide?"

She was trying not to smile again. "Sororicide, I believe, like fraternity and sorority."

"Sororicide part is seriously scary and icky, don't get me wrong. But Mercy would never hurt me." Well, she might hurt my feelings, or accidentally step on my toe, but strangle me and throw me into a big old hole in the ground? No way. Not a chance. Not even if she were possessed.

"You're not the sacrifice," he informed me dryly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What? But you just said..."

"They count it differently here. They believe the elder twin graciously allows her weaker and less refined sibling to precede her from the womb." His lips twisted in a hint of a smile, the smile of a man with a bitter mood but a sweet memory. "Your sister recently became aware of that as well."

So the second born was the older one here. Huh. Well that was kinda cool. I imagined baby me, politely waving baby Mercy forward. _No, no, after you..._

If I was the older sibling for once in my life, that meant Mercy had planned on letting me kill her so that Raj and I could escape. It was exactly the sort of thing she would think was an acceptable fallback, and I would have to yell at her for that some more once we were safe. But for now it meant that we were still ok, because I wouldn't strangle Mercy any more than she would strangle me. It just wasn't going to happen. "I'll be sure not to kill her then, and we'll be fine."

"That's not going to be enough. The last ritual held here failed because the shrine maidens wanted to escape. The older sister made it out, but the younger twin tripped and injured her leg. She was caught and returned to the village, where she was encouraged to commit suicide as a way to complete the ceremony despite her sister's absence. She did. That is the ritual that failed, and that is the ritual the ghosts are trying to reenact and correct. It's highly likely that, if they can reach your sister, they will conduct the ceremony again with or without your assistance. And they will attack, possess, and manipulate any way they can to get their hands on her. The sleepwalking, the dreams, the voices..." He turned back to Mercy. "They've been calling you this whole time, haven't they?" He unzipped the top six inches of her windbreaker and pushed it aside, revealing an ugly black and purple bruise that wrapped from one side of her neck to the other. "And that's the real reason you didn't tell me about being a twin later, when you might have. You were keeping the completion of the ritual as a Plan B and didn't want to say so because you knew it was a bad plan. You think letting them kill you will keep your sister safe."

Mercy's composed expression didn't change at all. "I will do whatever it takes to keep my sister safe," she said in her abused, raspy voice. "Whether or not it kills me."

And that's what had almost happened. Whatever had left that horrible bruise must have nearly gotten her for keeps. "When we get home you and I are totally in a fight." She smiled, and that made me more mad. It wasn't funny, dammit! "No! I mean it! I am so mad at you. I can't believe that you would -" I was so mad I couldn't even talk anymore. I couldn't see very well, either; candle light does not mix well with tears.

"Hey, hey," Mercy wrapped her arms around me. "It's not plan A. I'm not going to go running out yelling 'Here I am, come and kill me.' But I'm your sister, and if you or someone else killing me gets you and Raj and Aki here out of this damned village to peace and safety, I'm ok with that."

"But you're my _sister_, and I'm not."

Akizuki chimed in on my side, too. "The death of a sibling does not allow peace, especially not for one who feels responsible for it. If not for you, then not for her, either. Consider that when you make your plans. But I hope that, with each of you looking out for the other, neither will meet a bad end. We're almost finished here; one more key and we can open the way out. You two prepare; I'll be back with it as soon as I can."

"Wait, wait, wait," I protested, pushing out of Mercy's embrace, "I'm coming, too! No one goes alone, remember?"

He shook his head. "It's too dangerous."

"If you die because you didn't have a backup photographer, none of us is getting out of here," Mercy said flatly. She and I were in unison now, staring him down.

"But if the spirits reach you..."

She held up her trembling hands. "I won't move from this spot, I swear. Millie can go with you."

She may as well have just promised Akizuki she could fly. He wasn't buying it.

"Here," she said, coughing and digging a coil of climbing rope from her pack, "tie me here if it will make you feel better. If you tie my hands I won't be able to get free to go kill myself." She held out a wrist and the rope invitingly; Akizuki took two quick steps backward.

"No," he said shakily, "I can't leave you hobbled, in case a ghost comes." His eyes were tight on the rope.

She slumped against a high bank of dirt and shrugged. "All I'd be able to do is hide, and my ability doesn't require my hands."

She tossed him the rope and he threw it almost without touching it, as though she'd passed him an angry rattlesnake. When she picked it up off the ground and began looping it around her own wrists he turned dead white and snatched it from her, stuffing it back into the pack. "No. You will not be tied."

Mercy and I exchanged looks; there was clearly something going on there, but we didn't have time to deal with it now. "In that case," she said gently, "you're just going to have to trust me."

For the first time since I'd met him, he looked truly miserable. "The spirits will continue to try to influence you."

"She won't go. She promised." Akizuki's skeptical eyebrow was getting quite a workout during this conversation. I laughed as he raised it again. "You've never tried to get one of my Dad's girls to do something against her will. She won't move. She wouldn't leave Rajan. Come on," I motioned toward the door, "let's get that stone whatsit and get out of here. I want to blow this popsicle stand." I left the shrine without waiting for him to agree. In a matter of seconds he was behind me.

"You're sure." He wasn't asking, technically, but the backward glances over his shoulder and the tension around his eyes seemed like a question to me. He was a little more composed now, but the poor boy was still seriously worried. I thought about how carefully he'd been looking after Mercy and took pity on him.

"I'm sure," I told him confidently, taking his arm and letting a little skip spill into my step. "Her stubbornness pays off sometimes. So, where were we?"

"Discussing things I should have known days ago. Anything else you should add to that list?"

"Um..." I slowed down again, dropping his arm so I could tuck a loose curl behind my ear. _Well, yeah, maybe.._. "I can't think of any pressing ghost stuff, you've probably been through all that with Mercy anyway-"

He looked at me sharply. "All what ghost stuff?"

"Huh? Oh, just our family hauntings." Which, apparently, they hadn't been through after all.

"Family? She hadn't mentioned anything to me beyond your sister's Japanese hellgate."

"Oh, no? What have you two been talking about?"

"Generally the task at hand," he said dryly.

Somehow I hadn't pictured their conversations as quite that boring, not with the way they looked at each other when they thought no one was looking. "Oh. Well, we could talk about that."

He started to say something, stopped, and sighed. I get that reaction a lot for some reason. "I suppose there's not really anything that can top the twins revelation." He looked like was trying to think of something that would, so he could ask me about it, just in case. I wanted to help, but I couldn't think of anything, either. I could, however, think of a question about the task at hand, or at least the last one we'd done together.

"Um, so, the creepy old guy with the hat. And the fireballs. What was up with that?"

He grimaced. "Veiled priest. They helped with the ritual. They would have been among the first to fall to the darkness when it poured from the abyss, which might explain some of their unusual qualities."

I shivered. "They can all do that?"

"The one we met at the Kureha shrine could. I'm not sure about the one in the Kurosawa house."

"How many of them are there?"

He shrugged. "At least four, if I'm reading the diaries correctly. They tend to be vague when it comes to particulars."

The mist was thickening again, swirling like milk in a pot of coffee. We were almost on the bridge before I realized it was even there. Anything could jump out at us... I took Aki's arm again, trying not to see faces in the fog. "What else have you guys seen?"

He looked at me and frowned. "I don't think that's the best topic for discussion just now. You should probably be aware, though," he added reluctantly, "that some of these ghosts can be pretty disturbing to look at. Try not to panic if you see something... well, hideous. Just stay with me, and I'll protect you. If something happens to me, get the camera. Aim it at the ghost, and then just point and click. The closer you are and the less things are in the way, the more effective it will be, but if in doubt, just take the photo."

I nodded vigorously. "Point and click. Check. I can handle that."

"Oh, and if you hear laughter, a woman's crazy laughter, don't try to fight. Just run. You understand? Run as fast as you can." He was dead serious about that one, staring at me until I nodded. I had the distinct impression that if I'd argued at all he would have bundled me right back to the tree and left me there.

I remembered sissie staring at the dark, unable to even talk about '_that one_', remembered her waking up screaming, and wondered. Things out here seemed to have been worse, much worse, than I realized.

I was going to ask him more about that, but I didn't have time. We were across the bridge, walking beside a long, windowless wall, and when we turned the corner Akizuki stopped in front of the double doors. "Are you ready?" he asked.


	19. End of the Line 4

_Millie_

"Are you ready?" Akizuki asked.

I looked at him and found that I was. "Let's do this. It's time to get Mercy and Raj home."

Akizuki laughed and shook his head. "You know, you two seem pretty different, but under the surface you're just alike."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that – Mercy and I love each other, but we aren't all that similar- but I decided to take it as a compliment. "Well, we are sisters."

"I see that." He moved to the double doors and threw them open, looking back to make sure I was following. "Stay right with me," he urged. That wasn't really advice I needed.

We walked in to a surprisingly homey room. It could have used a good sweep and some lights, but it was in way better shape than the one we'd stayed in when we first came to town. "This place doesn't look so bad."

"Appearances can be deceiving." He was looking around, tense and wary, the camera ready in his hands. "I propose that we start the search here and go quickly through the downstairs, skipping the children's room and the doll room unless we finish the second floor without success."

"Why those two?"

"The twins room is the most heavily furnished, and the doll room follows it closely. They'll take the longest to go through. They're also the least safe."

"Alright, well, whatever you think is best. I'm just looking for one of those stones, right, the ones you're keeping in the tree? Nothing else?"

"Nothing else. Go as fast as you can."

I slid into cleaning mode and started ransacking the room, working my way from one side to the other. It really was in pretty good shape, but it was also pretty empty. I searched every vase, shelf, and crevice. "Nada," I said, wiping my hands on my jeans.

"Next room, then." His eyes never stopped moving; it made my skin crawl, wondering what he expected to suddenly materialize out of the shadows.

I moved toward the back of the room, where a doorway and a gaping hole the size of a doorway stood side by side. I picked the actual door and went through, into a big room with dolls hanging from the ceiling and shelves high along the walls.

"Ok, that's weird," I commented. I couldn't feel any breeze in here, but the doll on the end of the line was swaying a little. I felt a little nauseated, looking at it. _Alright, time to get this done._ I looked at the shelves again. "Um, I think I'm going to need a little help." There was no way I would be able to reach that stuff to search it.

Akizuki frowned. "I don't think we dare let our guard down, even for the search." His eyes were still roaming, floor to ceiling, covering the entire room every couple seconds. "But I might be able to lift stuff down for you, if you take the camera."

"I can do that."

He slid the strap off his neck and handed it over. "Don't stop looking, and don't assume they'll be walking. These things can come from anywhere."

I nodded soberly and began impersonating him, trying to stare into every shadow. I'd thought it was nerve-wracking watching _him_ do this. Doing it myself was already making my heart beat fast in my chest. I circled my finger on the shutter release button. _Point and click. Point and click. Point and..._

**Click**_._ Something touched the back of my head and I shrieked, my fingers clamping down on the camera and setting it off. I spun around and came face to face with one of the dolls hanging from the ceiling; I must have backed into it while I was looking.

And then the doll smiled at me and I screamed, the camera flashing again.

Akizuki appeared behind the doll, one arm reaching up to grab her rope. "I got this, turn around," he urged, and I did.

_God, save me. Please, please, help me do this. Help me for Raj and for Mercy..._

The ghost was an old man, with white hair that hung into his eyes and obscured his face down to his smile. It was a creepy smile, like the one on the doll: just as malicious and dead. I yanked the camera up and turned it toward him, but my hands were shaking too much for me to focus. I clutched it to my chest and pointed myself at him instead. It was an improvement, but not good enough; the flash barely reached him. Instead of bursting apart, he melted into the wall.

"I can't see him!" I called to Aki. My heart beat so hard it hurt to breathe. It jostled the camera, even, making it twitch like it wanted to fly out of my hands and hunt the old man down.

A gasping, grunting noise sounded behind me.

I whirled around and saw Akizuki tugging at a rope around his neck, a knife clenched in his right fist. He wasn't getting anywhere; his face was red, the veins in his neck bulging as he fought for air. The doll I'd run into was on the floor, motionless, her rope cut. The second doll's rope was cut, too, but it moved on its own, looping around Akizuki and choking him. The third doll was swinging in steadily increasing arcs, angling toward his knife hand.

I snapped a photo and the rope around his neck went slack and slithered to the floor. Aki doubled over, gulping oxygen, and I took aim at the third doll, tracking her swing with the camera. The flash drenched her and I held my breath until I was sure that her motions were getting smaller. I sighed in relief and turned to Aki. "Maybe you'd better-"

The old man was standing behind him, grinning and bending over to touch the severed ends of the ropes. They wiggled to life again, rising through the air and snaking toward us.

The dollmaker disappeared but I snapped the photo anyway, before the crawling dolls and their sentient nooses could reach us. They slumped back to the ground as Akizuki lunged for me, hauling me towards him and spinning me by the shoulders. I kept the camera up despite the dizzying blur in the view-finder; I knew what he was pulling me away from.

The old man stood by the third doll, his fingers stroking her hair. She was moving, her arms outstretched and that same malevolent curl to her lips. I jammed my finger down on the button with grim satisfaction. Even as he burst into sparks, the ghost's smile didn't change.

Akizuki's hands were still on my shoulders; I could feel his chest rising and falling against my back as he sucked air in. I was panting quietly, like Raj's retriever Shaleena when she didn't want to admit she was getting tired from chasing the ball. I stared at the the doll's blank face and motionless rope. "Think it would be ok to burn them?"

Akizuki laughed and let me go. "It would certainly be satisfying. Want to?"

I had a lighter and kindling in my pack, with the first aid stuff. There was a fire pit in the room right next door. "Yeah, I really do."

He chuckled again, then grabbed the rope above the head of the last hanging doll and held it taut. One savage stroke of the knife and she was hanging from his hand. I bent down to retrieve the other two.

"Um, Aki?"

There was an extra head on the floor.

It was a little too big to be from one of the hanging dolls, and it looked older than they did. It didn't do anything suspicious, either, like smile at me or blink. I took a picture of it anyway, just in case. For a moment, just as the shutter clicked, I didn't see the head at all. I saw screens and a hallway, and a headless doll lying just inside a door. I blinked and the scene changed, back the way it should be. Weird.

Aki knelt beside the head and poked it a few times. When it didn't respond, he picked it up, turning it over and probing it delicately with his strong hands. "I guess we're stuck with the doll room and the twin's room after all. First, though, we should try the workshop."

"What is it?" I asked, poking at the head myself.

"Aside from the obvious, I'm not sure. If we're very lucky... But something has been set in motion. We should find the rest of the doll."

If we were very lucky, this was connected to the last key, and we could get the hell out of here. "Um, are any of those rooms filled with screens?"

"No, they're all open. Why?"

I told him what I'd seen, as accurately as I could. "The screens are really all I've got. There weren't any pictures or anything, and all these walls and hallways kinda look the same."

"Well, it gives us a place to start. There's a sliding screen room in this house, and in at least one of the others. We'll start with this one, though. Kiryu key, it should be here. There's a staircase that will take us up. This way."

He jerked a thumb toward the far end of the room; the sleeve of his jacket tugged up and revealed a big black bruise across his wrist. I got his hand and pulled the sleeve back a little farther, examining it. "Ow."

"Yeah. The first hostile guardian. Your sister saved me."

Presumably before he saved her from the next homicidally violent apparition. If we didn't find that last key soon I was going to be the only one in condition to use it. I'd have to piggyback them all out, one at a time. Too bad I hadn't packed rollerblades. It'd be a lot easier to haul everyone if I could put them on wheels. Or helium! Maybe we could make a hot air balloon...

Akizuki was looking at me. I was still holding his wrist in my hand. I flushed a little and dropped it. "She's pretty awesome." Beyond awesome. Mercy was my very best friend. And I was really scared for her. "Gotta get her to Simon," I muttered.

"Who is Simon? He's come up before."

"Simon? Family doctor. He's married to my cousin. They live with us, he and Amanda and his sister."

"I thought that was your boyfriend and his brother."

"No. Well, them too. But Simon married a different cousin. My Mom's youngest sister's oldest girl. Eryc, Rajan's brother, married Mom's _oldest_ _brother's_ oldest girl. He's a doctor too, actually- Eryc, not my uncle- but he does neuroscience, not general practice and he's really more research. Big lab in the basement, full of cool stuff."

Aki blinked at me.

"Um. That's not really important right now. I have a big family, and you should totally meet them when we go home. For now, though, we should find the key."

He smiled a little half smile and led me out the door, down a hallway with dingy walls, and around a corner. He shuddered a little as we passed the corner room, but he didn't stop, so I just glanced and kept walking. I didn't see anything interesting anyway.

We passed through a door and into a room with a staircase leading up to the second floor. "Wait," I said as he started to climb. He turned back and I handed him the camera. "You should probably hang on to this."

He took it, a little bemused. "I guess there are some major differences. Your sister had to be..." He stopped abruptly, pursing his lips, his free hand curling into a tight fist.

I had a flashback to the big bruise on Mercy's neck. "How close was it?" My voice was suddenly small and squeaky, like a mouse.

His face went blank and his mouth stayed closed. My trepidation quickly vanished under a flood of annoyance.

"Not you, too! I'm here, there's no point pretending that I'm not. I can't be prepared if no one tells me what's going on. Besides, I deserve to know. I'm enough in the dark already, without the metaphorical stuff."

That won a bleak little chuckle. "I was trying to avoid darkening things around here." He sighed and took a step back toward the ground floor, and me. "Look," he said, drawing the camera strap over his head and waving one hand at our dismal surroundings, "this is not a good time or place. When we get out of here, if you still want to know, I'll answer any question you ask, honestly and completely. For now, don't fight a ghost in a cluttered area and don't let another one touch your sister. Those are the lessons we learned."

Good enough, I supposed. Besides, given a little time I could strong-arm details out of Mercy, too. Time and a living sister. Enough dilly-dallying. "You know," I said, stepping onto the staircase behind him, "I wish someone had told me earlier that I was the older one here. It's not my usual thing, and I think I've really been falling down on the job. I better get busy, huh?"

"You've been taking great care of your boyfriend." He turned around and started climbing again.

"Thanks. But that's Raj; I mean, how could I not? And he's flat on his back. Mercy's a lot harder to look out for."

"Tell me about it," he grumbled. Then he swiped a hand through his hair and smiled at me over his shoulder. "You don't have much time left to get it right. We're gonna be out of here in another hour or so."

"Oh, I hope so! I cannot tell you how bad I need a shower and a cookie." And a doctor and my Mom and someplace ghost-free and light and warm... I took a deep breath and started humming softly, to keep my feet moving on the stairs.

We hit the second floor, and Akizuki led us through several mostly empty rooms, all dark and dingy, little sets of steps taking us up and down as the height of the floors changed. At the very back of the house he turned and walked through a door and the room I'd seen flash in front of my eyes was unfolded, real and steady, before me.

"Well," he said, "here we are. Where did you see the doorway?" He leaned back against the nearest wall, trying to get out of my field of view. The wall clicked and started to move; he was standing right where I'd seen the door. He jumped away from the growing opening, grabbing my arm and pulling me behind him. I spun so we were back to back and I could watch for guardians, but the room was empty. After a few heartbeats I turned to peek around Aki.

The wall had opened; the dark space behind it could have been a closet or a stadium for all I could see. Akizuki inched forward, the camera high.

"There's something..."

The camera flashed, light bouncing off the walls and showing a closet sized room holding a little girl with long dark hair and a beautiful blue kimono. She didn't burst into sparks like the old men had; she just disappeared as the light hit her.

I started to push ahead of Aki and scope out the closet, but he held out a hand to keep me back and then raised a finger to his lips. We stood still, watching and listening, until the quiet made my ears ring.

"Maybe it's really gone." He sounded more surprised than certain, but he stepped back and let me pass. He stayed in the doorway, watching, both hands on the camera.

"Looks like it," I agreed, playing my flashlight beam around. There wasn't any furniture, but there was something on the floor, right where the girl had stood. A headless doll, dressed in a white kimono embroidered with butterflies and a deep red sash. I looked at Akizuki and he handed me the doll head; it was just the right size. As the head slid into place the back of the doll pushed against my fingers. The whole back swung open. The final pinwheel key nestled inside.

"Hey, look at that!" I held the key up for Aki to admire. "You led us right to it. You're good luck."

He laughed. "It's because I'm Asian. It's one of our powers, along with math, flying, and kung fu."

"Hmm," I said, stuffing the key into my jacket pocket and buttoning it in. "Then I'll have to start bringing Kirie on trips."

"I was just joking, but... Kirie? Mercy mentioned her as your friend."

"Mmmhmm. She doesn't like to travel yet, though. She's kind of shy." I looked at the dingy, candlelit walls around me. "I think if she ended up back here, in a place like this, she'd never leave her room again."

"What do you mean?"

Protective silence was apparently some sort of epidemic around here, and it was my turn. Kirie's personal history was not mine to disclose. "She's... a special case," I hedged. "Maybe you can meet her! She's really sweet. Where are you going when we get out of here? Back to Tokyo?"

He shook his head. "I thought about it, but I don't think I will yet. I wander. I don't actually live anywhere anymore."

"You don't?" He shook his head. "You're homeless?"

He smiled. "Not quite like that. I travel, constantly."

"But... but you don't have a place that you come back to, a place where you always belong." He shook his head again. "What about your family?"

"No family."

"That's terrible! You have to come home with us!"

"That's not really-"

"No! You should! You should at least try it, for a little while. Seriously. The house is amazing, and my family is really nice, and we could get to know you without all the ghosts. Just for a little while."

He laughed and relented. "Alright, maybe I'll come visit."

"You totally have to. I'm going to make you promise." I patted my jacket pocket. "But for now let's get this back to the tree."

The darkness felt different with the last key in my pocket. It wasn't so heavy or so toothsome. Toothful? Hungry. It didn't feel so hungry. I was warmer, too. Psychosomatic, I knew, but I'd take what I could get.

Akizuki was substantially less happy with life. He kept walking faster and faster, muttering under his breath in Japanese. I was pretty sure I didn't need a translator to know what he was mumbling about.

"She'll be there."

"I shouldn't have left her." He ran his hand through his hair. "No matter how good her intentions, she might not be in control of her own mind anymore. Or they might have taken her."

That was easy enough. "Then we'll just go take her back."

"No. Then I'll get you and Rajan out, and I will go back for her when you're safe. I promised. And I don't want them to be able to use you against each other."

I didn't care what he'd promised. I hadn't promised anything, and if ghosts had taken my sister, I was going to make them regret it. And then all four of us were going to go home.

Nothing got between us and the tree, except for the milky fog. As soon as the branches were discernible in the dark Aki broke into a run, one hand around my wrist so we didn't get separated. I wasn't half as worried anymore, but I didn't mind humoring him. I matched his speed all the way until we slid into the shrine.

The room was empty.


	20. End of the Line 5

_Millie_

Aki swore as he slid in behind me. "She's not here," he whispered in a voice like it was his own sister missing.

"Neither is Raj," I told him encouragingly, "so they both are. Mercy!" I walked carefully to the spot where we'd laid the stretcher and knelt, feeling along the ground.

"Millie?" My sister appeared out of nothing, slumped against the wall and still shaking. She didn't look much better than she had when we left, but she was sane and alive. "Couldn't hear you over the noise. Sorry."

Mostly sane, then. I didn't know what she was listening to, and I didn't really want to. Not here. She could tell me all about it when we got home. Raj was suddenly visible two inches from my hand, right where I knew he'd be, right where I'd left him. I smiled at him and patted his arm, even though he wasn't awake, and then stood and fished the final pinwheel key from my pocket.

Akizuki knelt in front of my sister, saying something so quietly that I couldn't understand it despite the fact that I was standing right next to them. I guessed a personal conversation was coming and tapped his shoulder before he got too far in. "While you do that, I'm gonna do this." He looked over and nodded. Good enough for me. Their chat was another thing Mercy could fill me in on when we got home.

There was one open spot left in the big gray stone that held the other pinwheels we'd found. "Here we go," I whispered as I plugged the last key into the seal.

Nothing happened.

Was it supposed to? The door wasn't here, so maybe it had just popped open and we wouldn't know until we got there. I didn't like that idea, though. It had to transmit something to the door. There should be a sound, or a motion, or a feeling, or something. I reached out for the key I had just placed, snuggling it a little more firmly into its slot. It rotated under my fingers.

_Hmm_.

Tentatively, I touched the other stones, wiggling them each in turn. They all moved, except for the center one, the one that had been there the whole time. Only in one direction, and not more than one full turn. Moving one stone also moved the one beside it. What kind of lock was it? I'd been working with a deadbolt/key model in my head, but this felt more like a combination... Assuming Akizuki had been right about where each stone fit, and I had no reason to suppose he wasn't...

My fingers flew across the stones, turning until each spoke of the center pinwheel was touching a spoke of a matching color on the outer ones. I'd turned two of them too far and had to take them out and reset them before they would move into place. They would only go in in one orientation, so I couldn't cheat, which irritated me. I've never been much of a puzzle girl. Raj and Mercy both laugh at me and tell me I'm smart, but half the time stuff like this got me all flustered and muddled. I didn't have time for that now, though, nor for the blunt force approach in which I just tried it a thousand times until it worked. I went step by step, just the way Raj always wanted me to. I could almost hear his voice in my ear, coaching me, even though he was still asleep.

I heard a click as I rotated the last one into place, and a blur of motion in my peripheral vision yanked my attention away from the seal.

Every last pinwheel in the room was spinning. One whole side of the room was covered in them, and they were all clipping along like they had a good stiff breeze, filling the shrine with their whirring hum.

"Um, guys?"

"They're coming." Mercy stumbled back to her feet, grabbing her pack and hauling it on. She was coughing as she frantically buckled it and strapped on her helmet, flicking on the headlamp.

"Mercy?"

She turned and snapped at me, panic rising in her voice and in her eyes. "They're coming, they're coming! Hurry! Come on!"

She bent and grabbed the stretcher handles at Rajan's feet; I dug my helmet out of my pack and slapped it on, then rushed over and got the ones by his head. Together we hoisted him up. Akizuki, like me, hadn't taken off his backpack when we got back to the tree, so he was all ready to go as well, which was a good thing since he was out the door on the town side of the tree, the camera up and ready. Mercy and I maneuvered the stretcher out after him.

"Huh?" Raj's voice came from behind me, and I wished I could see him. "What's going on?" The stretcher lurched a little with Mercy's limp, and I heard him stifle a grunt of pain. I craned my head around just for a second and got a glimpse of his sweet, confused face.

"We're going home," I assured him. "The door's open, and we just have to walk out of here." It would be a bit of a hike, Aki'd said, but not unmanageable. "Can you hang on a little while longer?"

"I-uh." The stretcher lurched again and he hissed.

"Sorry!" Mercy whispered. "Sorry."

"S'ok. I'm fine. Royal treatment. Don't worry 'bout me."

"You're amazing," I told him. "Don't worry, it won't be much longer. We'll be as gentle as we can." Not very; Mercy was in bad shape, and Aki said there were a lot of stairs. But as gentle as we could. Hopefully he could take a little more.

Akizuki moved quickly, circling us, showing me the way but also falling back to watch for pursuers. He directed us left at the split in the trail with a quick gesture, his eyes on the verge of creating their own laser beams to pierce the fog. Better him than me.

A minute or two later we made it to the stairs. A few steps up, the stretcher handles resisted my grasp, tugging backward a little in my hands, and I realized that my sister had stopped. A trickling little dismay shivered down my shoulders, freezing my stomach and pooling like lead in my knees.

"You guys go ahead-" she started, and the trickle became a flood.

"Mercy, if you give me a handle I can help you up." I looked back to see Mercy surrender one handle to Aki and slide her arm up over his shoulders. The camera was around his neck. He wrapped his arm around her back and helped her limp up the first step. It would jostle Raj even more and we wouldn't be able to go fast, but she wouldn't have to stay behind, either. Raj stifled a moan and clenched his fingers on the edge of the stretcher.

_I should have made that balloon. Damn. Too late now. He'll just have to hang on._

"Will you know when they get close?" Akizuki asked.

Mercy nodded grimly. "Yeah. Come on, we need to hurry."

I turned back around and set my sights on the other shrine, somewhere up there in the black sea of misty trees.

Mercy was gasping and coughing by the time we were twenty steps up, but she refused to take it slow. Twice before we reached the top she called a stop and took the stretcher handle back, and we stood waiting while Akizuki disappeared back the way we had come. She would wince and mutter to herself, listening to things I couldn't hear, until I couldn't take it anymore and turned to face forward again, counting the stairs ahead in the weak beam of my light. Then Aki would come back and we would go on.

"There," Aki said at last. "Just above us. There it is."

I looked up, my burning calves weak with gratitude. There was a little wooden building just ahead, its door already open. I turned back to grin at Mercy and Raj, and the smile froze on my face. Mercy was stiff, pulling away from the shrine, her breath coming in little squeaks. I'd never seen her look like that before.

"Priest," she whispered. "He wants me. And father is calling."

She didn't mean our father.

"How much time do we have?" Aki asked, guiding her free hand back to the stretcher and curling her fingers around the handle.

"Not enough." With an effort she focused on Aki. "You should go. I can buy you enough time to get them out. If I go back..."

"No." Akizuki strode toward the shrine door and looked back at me. "I'll be back in two minutes. Don't let her out of your sight."

I did as he said, although she didn't seem inclined to go running off. She was having a hard enough time standing. The sea of anxiety that had started forming in my insides at the bottom of the stairs was now sufficiently evolved to spawn life; I could swear something long and scaly was swimming around in my tummy. When I realized that my sister was muttering in Japanese it sprouted claws.

I tried to catch Raj's eye, see if he noticed, but he was gray-faced and panting again, his fingers like marble around the edge of the stretcher. His eyes were screwed shut and I doubted he was aware of anything more than his leg. The sea monster in my tummy set to work digging its way out.

It didn't have time to escape, though. Aki was back in the promised two minutes, his sleeve singed but otherwise intact. He took his place beside Mercy wordlessly and gestured me inside with a jerk of his chin. I shuffled forward, ready to be assaulted despite the implicit 'all clear'.

The shrine was empty, its aging wood apparently immune to whatever magical fire had clipped Aki's arm.

"Behind the main altar," Akizuki said. "See the grating?"

I did; I angled toward it, bypassing a cloth-covered table laden with objects that under other circumstances would have been fascinating. It was too bad. We'd spent days surrounded by authentic antiques and all kinds of interesting religious and cultural paraphernalia, and all I'd seen were long dirty hallways and one shrine. And some glowy butterflies. And a few deadly ghosts. Maybe I'd better get my Japanese history some other way.

I got to the grating and stopped short. Two girls in white kimonos were ahead of us in the tunnel; they disappeared into the blackness beyond the beam of my headlamp.

"They won't hurt you," Akizuki said quietly. "They're trying to get out, too."

If they'd made it, they wouldn't be ghosts.

The tunnel was even colder than the outside air; the dirt walls and floor were uneven and frozen. I had to keep my head pointed almost straight down at my toes so I didn't trip. I didn't like that, since it meant that absolutely anything could be within arms length in the darkness and I wouldn't know. If I looked up, though, and tripped, whatever was lurking would just eat me anyway.

Why didn't the damn tunnel end?

And then, between one step and the next, the temperature dropped another twenty degrees. Ice shot along the ground and up the walls, frosting the dirt with crisp white lace in less than a second. I stopped and looked up after all, but there was nothing there.

Behind me, Mercy whimpered. "Oto-sama."

I turned and looked back, caught Akizuki's eye. Swiftly we lowered the stretcher to the ground. Raj had passed out at some point; he was pale and limp, but still breathing. Mercy was standing dead still, her eyes closed and her chest heaving.

Aki stood up and took her by the shoulders, turning her towards him and tilting up her chin. "Mercedes," he said urgently. "Mercedes!"

Her eyes opened.

"He's not your father. And Millie needs you." Her posture changed, melting a little. Aki glanced down the tunnel the way we'd come and then back to her face. "Can you hide them?"

She shook her head. "No," she whispered.

"Alright. Then you're just going to have to lay low." He looked at me. "Stay here, and keep quiet. I'll be back."

I wanted to protest that no one should go alone; I couldn't. He said he'd be back, but his face said he wasn't sure. I might have to carry Mercy and Raj out after all.

He readied the camera and stepped back into the dark.

Mercy put a hand on the rough tunnel wall and closed her eyes again; she was trying to hide us after all. For the first time in our lives I could see the front of her illusion moving out like a pool of water, erasing her and then creeping over Raj from his toes upward. There was about half of him left when I heard a grunt and a thud; the illusion disappeared. Mercy still had one hand on the tunnel wall, but now she was hunched over on her knees, eyes still closed, her free hand cradled against her stomach like she was going to be sick. I couldn't do anything to help her, so I knelt by Raj's head and settled for listening for Aki instead.

The booming, echo-y voice that came down the tunnel was a man's, but it wasn't his. It made me shiver and hunch down, trying to get smaller. I didn't want that voice to touch me.

The voice got louder, angrier, its dead tones coming alive, and for just a second I thought it had felt me shrink away. Then I realized it must mean that Aki was using the camera. I couldn't hear the shutter, couldn't hear steps, couldn't hear anything but the horrible voice and the pounding of my own blood. Something warm dropped on my hand and I stopped breathing, but when I looked down I realized it was my own tears.

I don't know how long it took; forever, with my eyes blurring over Rajan's face and my ears full of echoes, the monster in my stomach tearing my insides to bits. I jumped as the echoes became a roar; my head jerked up and sent my headlamp's beam skittering over the ice crusted floor. Akizuki was running toward us, like the hero in an action movie, a shower of sparks raining down at his back.

"Mercy!" I hissed, but she didn't move. I stood up and called her again, a little louder. "Mercy, c'mon! We gotta go!"

She stirred, and I bent to the stretcher handles. Akizuki caught up to us, coming to a full, silent stop as he drew even with Mercy. He glanced at me, face grim. "Hang on," he said, pulling a knife from his pocket.

Mercy was still kneeling, trying to push herself up along the wall. Akizuki reached into her pack and pulled out the poor fleece, cut the remnants into strips, and then brought the two stretcher handles on their side together and lashed them. He could hold the result in one hand, barely. We were just lifting the stretcher off the ground when someone started laughing.

Mercy's eyes snapped open and she lurched to her feet; she would have fallen over again if Aki hadn't been right there to catch her with his free hand. He scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder before I could do more than blink.

"Run!" he shouted.

I ran.

It was awkward, running with the stretcher, praying with every step that the ground would be there under my feet. I couldn't see anything but a blur of light where my lamp hit the cave walls. I wasn't going fast enough for anything to blur. Of course, the ground wasn't soft enough to stick to my shoes, but that felt like it was happening, too. The laughter clawed at me, getting closer and louder and hauling me backward to meet it, pressing on my skin and filling my mouth and worming down inside of me. My hands were shaking; any second now the sound was going to burst me apart and splatter me on the walls.

And then my lamp wasn't hitting walls anymore.

I took a few more running steps, since I was in front, but when I felt the first stirrings of resistance in the stretcher handles I risked a pause and a backward glance. Mercy and Aki were just barely clear of the tunnel mouth, my sister still perched over his shoulder like a sleepy toddler. She had the camera and was snapping a picture of the girl who stood in the tunnel mouth. The laughing girl. I couldn't believe someone so young could make a sound like that, but at the same time... I knew I would be afraid of her face for the rest of my life. It matched the sound of her laughter.

She held something in her hand, a rope tying Mercy and Aki to the dark tunnel we were trying to flee. Mercy's braid.

The camera wasn't having any effect. Mercy let it drop to hang by its strap and started tugging at the braid with one hand, digging for something in Aki's pack with the other. A knife, I'd bet. I had one, but I'd have to drop Raj to get it, and I wasn't sure what that would do to him, injured as he was.

I didn't have time to waffle on the decision. The girl was clawing her way up Mercy's braid, tugging her back. Any second Akizuki was going to topple backward from the pressure and the ghost would have her. Mercy was screaming in fear and pain.

Just as I was about to drop the stretcher and grab my knife the whole thing jerked. I took a few stumbling steps and collapsed to my knees, my eyes still riveted on the cave entrance. Akizuki was on his knees, too, his arms extended to support the stretcher, Mercy collapsed in his lap between them, her braid hanging down her back uncut. The laughing girl shrieked; there was a hand on her arm. Someone stood behind her, drawing her back into the absolute black of the tunnel. A boy, about her age but white haired, wearing a white kimono. He smiled at me- a normal, pleasant smile, like we'd just been introduced.

"Mercy," I said, glancing over at my sister, "do you see-"

He was gone. He and the laughing girl and the tunnel, all vanished. All that was left was a steep, rocky hillside covered with scrub pine and forest debris.

"We're out," Akizuki said quietly, and his words started me shaking. I eased the stretcher handles to the ground.

_Good thing I didn't try carrying everyone out one at a time._

"Millie," my sister asked in a hoarse, exhausted voice, "are you ok?"

"Yeah. I think so. Probably. And Raj is still out, but he's breathing."

"Ok," she said, and curled up in a ball on the ground next to Akizuki, who had set his end of the stretcher down, too. He rubbed one hand against Mercy's back and cradled his head in the other.

I flopped onto my back on the springy forest earth and looked from the very solid hillside to the open, cloud-free sky. It was early evening, and as I watched the first star began to glimmer. I made a wish as I pulled out my phone and flipped it open. It came true with the first ring.

"Mom? It's me. I love you and we're coming home."


End file.
